ANCWL slams Zapiro cartoon as insensitive, distasteful

Johannesburg – The ANC Women’s League on Wednesday said it was appalled by cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro’s latest work depicting South Africa as a woman being raped.

“In a country like South Africa, where women are sexually violated daily, Zapiro’s cartoon is insensitive, distasteful and an insult to those who have suffered from the injustice of rape,” the league’s secretary general, Meokgo Matuba, said in a statement.

Zapiro used rape as a theme in his latest cartoon about state capture.

It depicts President Jacob Zuma zipping up his trousers as one of the Gupta brothers gets ready to “rape” SA, depicted as a woman.

State Security Minister David Mahlobo, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini and New Age editor Moegsien Williams hold her down.

Matuba said rape was an epidemic in the country and “political satire should not make a mockery of the most violent act that a woman could encounter”.

The cartoon carried a racial undertone and perpetuated the stereotype that black men remained onlookers in the face of injustice, the league said.

“The ANCWL respects the freedom of expression as enshrined in our Constitution. However, we condemn the abuse of such freedom as done by Zapiro through his cartoon.

“We will continue to fight against the portrayal of women as objects,” Matuba said.

The league wanted Shapiro, aka Zapiro, to apologise to all women in SA and all rape survivors.

Shapiro said the current climate in the country over state capture and the Cabinet reshuffle warranted his drawing the cartoon.