Artwork Mocking Zuma in the News Again

JOHANNESBURG – A brouhaha seems to be building up again over a satirical artwork depicting President Jacob Zuma’s penis, and the government has already condemned the work.

The cartoon by Anton Kannemeyer shows a giant black penis and scrotum hovering above a group of angry black demonstrators carrying a banner that demands, “Respect for the president’s penis now!”

As was reported in The Guardian, the image is a reference to the 2012 controversy over another painting, ‘The Spear’ by Brett Murray, which portrayed  Zuma with exposed genitalia and led to a protest march, court case and national debate around black African identity and the right to freedom of speech.

The new show, ‘E is for Exhibition’, opened at Johannesburg’s Stevenson gallery on Thursday and also has a painting mocking former president Thabo Mbeki as well as a cartoon of Oscar Pistorius entitled ‘M is for Murder and Mayhem’.

Buti Manamela, deputy minister in the presidency, reportedly said, “We don’t have time for bigotry and what clearly is racism being projected as art.”

“Hopefully the artist feels good about himself and I don’t think we want to be preoccupied with this when the country has far more important concerns.”

While Kannemeyer has said that his work is a statement against censorship, others have said it is racist.