Anton Kannemeyer's latest show, E is for Exhibition, which opened at Stevenson in Johannesburg last week, builds on and updates his Alphabet of Democracy series. It adds politically telling moments like Helen Zille and Mamphela Ramphele's kiss (K is for Kissing) and Oscar Pistorius's trial (M is for Murder and Mayhem) to its chronicle of the times.But in these works and others, like his rather more sombre cartoon strip, My Nelson Mandela, a narrative of his political awakening in the 1980s, Kannemeyer's satire becomes increasingly complicated.The artist, who started Bittercomix in the 1990s with Conrad Botes, has a long history of provocation, particularly with topics like race and sex. His cartoons were shocking and embarrassing, fuelled as much by guilt and shame as they were by the delights of transgression. But ultimately, like a lot of satirical cartoonists, Kannemeyer's larger project involved telling truth to power, and undermining it with ridicule.Now, as then, his works uncover something rotten behind the veneer of moral rectitude.D is for Destiny quotes ANC MP Angie Molebatsi at the funeral of Olga Kekana, a young hairdresser who was mistakenly shot dead by police: "One way or another, we are all going to die, regardless of whether a cop shoots you or you were ill. Let's not lose hope towards the police. Let's keep on trusting them. This was Kekana's destiny, let's not blame the police."S is for Shamefully South African deals with "corrective rape", a term coined in South Africa . Kannemeyer often begins with the façade - the corrupt politician's attempt at a winning smile, a dignified look. But juxtaposed against harsh facts , his new works show the PR is a lie, and our democracy is bankrupt.The arrogant ineptitude of Kannemeyer's politicians reveals that they can barely be bothered to disguise their disdain for the public. And where does that leave satire that draws its power from revealing hypocrisy?E is for Exhibition goes beyond satire. It's what satire looks like when it no longer has faith in its ability to change anything. It might provoke embarrassed, rueful or bitter laughter, but there's a more profound sense of helplessness at its heart.E is for Exhibition is on until November 13..