JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — Zapiro, as one of South Africa's most controversial cartoonists calls himself, is a liberal pro-Palestinian Jew who was detained under apartheid for drawing the security police of the minority white regime as gun-toting pigs. Now he's under attack by the ruling African National Congress over a cartoon critical of party President Jacob Zuma.
The cartoon shows Zuma preparing to rape the justice system, portrayed as a blindfolded woman pinned down by his political allies in the ANC, the Communist Party, unions and the ANC Youth League.
Published in the Sunday Times of Johannesburg, the cartoon lampoons a campaign by Zuma's supporters to throw out charges of corruption, fraud and racketeering that he faces so he can seek South Africa's presidency. In a country with one of the world's highest rates of rape -- and one deeply divided between supporters and opponents of Zuma, who was acquitted of rape charges in 2006 -- the drawing has been explosive.
The nation's high court is due to rule today on Zuma's bid to have the charges against him dismissed.
Zapiro, whose given name is Jonathan Shapiro, knew that allies from his days as an anti-apartheid activist would be furious about the drawing. He was right. In a statement Monday, the ANC, its youth league and the Communist Party said it was "disgusting."
As he has done since the 2006 rape trial, Zapiro drew Zuma as having a shower sprouting from his head -- a reference to the party leader's testimony that to avoid AIDS he showered after having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman. Zuma has thrice sued the cartoonist for libel. Two suits were withdrawn; the third is pending.
The cartoon, along with Zapiro's other work, can be seen on his website, www.zapiro.com. Zapiro spoke with the Los Angeles Times by phone Thursday from Cape Town. "I can sit and talk to you while I draw," he said.
What's the central message of the cartoon?
The central message is that Jacob Zuma is about to violate and rape the justice system with the help of his political allies. Justice is an allegorical figure but she does have a certain amount of humanity in the way I've drawn her, which added to the shock value. It's [Zuma's] own rape trial, for which he was acquitted, that makes it more explosive.
Did you hesitate before publishing the cartoon?
