Zapiro now sees that depicting Abrahams as a monkey was a ‘mistake’

26 May 2016 - 09:55 By Nomahlubi Jordaan
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Cartoonist Zapiro – Jonathan Shapiro - says he made a mistake by depicting National Prosecuting Authority head Shaun Abrahams as a monkey.

Zapiro’s cartoon - which also shows President Jacob Zuma as an organ grinder - sparked widespread outrage‚ with many saying his portrayal of black people has a racist undertone.

 

Speaking to eNCA‚ Zapiro said: “I’ve had no problem offending.

  • Why I refuse to self-censorTwenty years ago, Pieter-Dirk Uys wrote an article with the headline "Zapiro ventures where comrades fear to tread". I suppose I have done it again. 

“I think it’s very much part of what cartoonists do and satirists do to have that licence to offend and even sometimes to push the boundaries beyond those that society often thinks of and really offend and take things further.

“I’ve offended religious groups of all kinds and I’m not unhappy doing that.

“I’ve offended politicians for all sorts of things. I’ve been attacked because of the cartoons of Jacob Zuma. I can defend; I’d say‚ 99% of them. Occasionally‚ I make mistakes.

“This‚ I see now as a mistake.” – TMG Digital

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