Election campaign in South Africa, a blessing for cartoonists

A famous anecdote dates back to 2006: a politician publicly shared that he had unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman, believing that he “minimized” the risk of transmission by taking a shower immediately afterwards.

Since then, the 65-year-old Zapiro has been systematically drawing Zuma with a tongs above his head, irritating the former president to no end, who has taken him to court on several occasions.

Journalist cartoons are doing well in South Africa, thirty years after the advent of democracy. After decades of censorship under apartheid, freedom should be enjoyed.

“Zuma offers us golden material, the period is tight,” confirms Nathi Ngubane, 34, born a month after Nelson Mandela was released from prison.

His parents, of Zulu descent like Mr Zuma, were initially shocked that he lacked so much respect, in his drawings, for his elders. “I do it because I can,” he says triumphantly.

Being a cartoonist means “being brave”, including overcoming this cultural taboo. And “an elder who commits crimes, who is involved in corruption, must expect to be subject to scrutiny.”

Read also: South Africa: Former President Zuma, election disruptor

“I have every right as a South African living in a democracy, (the right) to criticize those who misbehave,” he said calmly, drawing Zuma in traditional Zulu dress, spear in hand, with President Cyril Ramaphosa impaled.

Mr Zuma, suspended from the ruling ANC in January, is campaigning on behalf of a small, recently formed radical party called Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK).

On May 29, the ANC risks, for the first time in its history, losing its parliamentary majority, undoubtedly forcing it to form a coalition government. Never has voting been so contested since the end of apartheid.

“Dissonance”

In his sunny workshop in Cape Town, his dog Captain Haddock lying under the table, Zapiro, whose real name is Jonathan Shapiro, reflects and rejoices. Focused on his “left brain”.

“I never start directly with a joke or a drawing. I begin by asking myself what my reaction is to the latest news.

He recently drew multiple bubbles illustrating campaign episodes for Daily Maverick, an online newspaper. He imagines himself there, wondering if artificial intelligence is threatening his job.

Read also: South African elections: ANC launches its campaign, Zuma spoilsport

Obviously not. “AI doesn’t understand irony,” says Zapiro, with receding hairline, green eyes and a neat goatee. And the political reality in South Africa far exceeds any fiction.

He cites Zuma doing it alone because he has become “too corrupt even for the ANC” or even President Ramaphosa finding himself in the dark in the middle of talking about progress… in electricity supply.

Zapiro holds the figures of Mandela and Desmond Tutu, side by side, to embody in his bubbles the moral conscience of the country, during tragic events such as the xenophobic violence of 2008.

He is battling Ramaphosa, who came to power on largely broken promises to fight corruption, whom he describes as “the most reluctant president we’ve had”. “I sketch him as spineless or as a fake superhero,” he says.

“We must not allow politicians to screw us over and knock them off their pedestals,” he says, summing up the cartoonist’s mission. And “encourage critical thinking”.

“I will never run out of material in this country. Lots of stories are popping up, some confusing. We have stupid politicians,” he said.

Joy for the artist, less so for the citizen who admits that sometimes he feels “dissonance”, because the “wobbly” country is in a bad state. “The next five years will be terrible. If we sink any deeper, this country,” which is more or less functioning, “could disappear.”