DON’T
JOKE! Edited by Andy Mason and John Curtis
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
1SEPTEMBER 2008 – 31 AUGUST 2009
FEATURING SOUTH AFRICA’S BEST POLITICAL CARTOONISTS
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Editorial
THE STORY SO FAR…
WHAT A YEAR!
JULY 2006: OMINOUS SUITS
ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma sues the media for R63 million. The biggest individual claim (R15 million) is against Zapiro, for defamation and injury to dignity.
DEC 2007: BLOODLESS COUP
In a dramatic confrontation at the ANC conference at Polokwane, party members vote overwhelmingly to topple President Thabo Mbeki and replace his supporters on the National Executive Committee (NEC) with supporters of reinstated ANC president Jacob Zuma.
JAN–AUG 2008: BATTLE ROYAL
NOW READ ON!
Editorial
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papers in which their work appears, so the range and diversity of cartoonists represented here may come as a surprise. The big names are here, but there are many others in this book whose work is not widely known. Seeing all these cartoonists together in the same book confirms that South African cartooning has finally come of age. Don’t Joke! is the first in an annual series of collections representing the full range of South African political cartooning. As such, we hope it will become an ongoing journal of the development of the discipline in this country, recording the emergence of new cartoonists and tracking their progress. The project was made possible by the enthusiastic cooperation of the participating cartoonists, all of whom share a common commitment to the development of their unique profession, and none of whom were paid for their contribution to this book. We’re very grateful to them. The royalties from the sale of this book will go towards the developmental work of the Centre for Comic, Illustrative and Book Arts (CCIBA). For more information about the CCIBA, please visit our website (www.cciba.sun.ac.za). The Editors Cape Town, November 2009
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 18/08/09
The infighting between Mbeki and Zuma factions in the ANC rages on. Charges of conspiracy and corruption are exchanged between the two leaders. The unity of the liberation party is severely compromised.
On August 16 2008 Jamaican speedster Usain Bolt ran the fastest 100 metres ever, in 9.69 seconds. Exactly a year later, to the day, he shaved .011 of a second off his own record. The very next day, President Jacob Zuma completed the first 100 days of his term. In a cartoon dated August 17 2009, Fred Mouton had fun with the coincidence. In history, as in sport, highly significant developments often take place in a very short space of time. Looking back over the period covered by this book, during which three South African presidents have held office, one is struck by the rapid movement of events following Judge Chris Nicholson’s controversial judgment of September 12 2008. Less than two weeks later, Kgalema Motlanthe became president, to be replaced, a mere seven months later, by Jacob Zuma. Cartoonists, who had hitherto portrayed Zuma in an extremely negative light, began to represent him differently. In the cartoons at the beginning of this book, Zuma is generally depicted as a machine-gun-wielding thug or a threatening ogre. A year later our president, as portrayed by our cartoonists, looks positively avuncular. As South Africans, we’re used to dramatic transitions. Without them, we’d probably die of boredom. This book records many of the transitional moments that have shaped our reality over the last 12 months. But it also represents a transitional moment in the history of South African cartooning itself. For the first 130 years or so of its history, South African cartooning was pretty much a whites-only activity. Today the situation is quite different, and, for the first time, cartoonists representing the country’s full demographic spectrum, articulating a range of political views, are featured in the same annual. However, it should be noted that, except for the redoubtable Stacey Stent, we still have no female political cartoonists. Cartoonists are generally known only to the readers of the
DON’T JOKE!
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HEADLINES END OF AN ERROR 4
A sorry end to Mbeki’s presidency.
CARETAKER PRESIDENCY 8
Motlanthe is tagged a “seat warmer” – holding the presidential chair until Zuma’s legal challenges are dispatched.
MARCHING TO PRETORIA 16
Confident of Zuma’s accession, the ANC’s election machinery rolls into action.
OPPOSITIONAL POSITIONS 28
Disaffected Mbeki loyalists launch Cope.
X MARKS THE SPOT 32
Despite the misgivings of critics and naysayers, the April 22 general election is judged a great success.
WATERSHED MOMENT 35
President Zuma is inaugurated as critics compare him to Mandela and Obama.
3 MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS 47
Their mission accomplished, communists embrace capitalism, while the poor respond with strikes and protests.
JURISIMPRUDENCE 55
Inebriated judges, judicial tinkering, the death of the Scorpions and the Shaik parole conspire to make a mockery of juristic prudence.
UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS 59
Anarchy threatens as one government department after another is mired in corruption and inefficiency.
TEMPERATURES RISING 70
Climate change, the global financial meltdown and ongoing international conflict all add to the heat.
INTO AFRICA 74
“Brother Leader” Gaddafi sets his sights on an African presidency, while China reinvents colonialism.
GOALS AND PENALTIES 78
The US celebrates its Mandela moment.
Sport is too often the loser as money changes all the rules. South Africa pins its hopes –and bets billions – on 2010.
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBOURHOOD 43
NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED 84
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH 40
With Zimbabwe in ruins, a deal is struck, but the outbreak of cholera bodes ill.
As his first 100 days fly past, rocked by scandal and intrigue, President Zuma plugs in his phone to listen to the nation.
Brandan, Saturday Argus, 13/09/08
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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HEADLINES
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4
END OF AN ERROR The Fall of Thabo Mbeki
DATELINES Sep 12 2008
Judge Chris Nicholson dismisses the charges against Zuma, citing political interference by President Thabo Mbeki.
Sep 20 2008
Stidy, The Witness, 1/10/08
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe announces the party’s decision to recall Mbeki as president.
Sep 21 2008
Thabo Mbeki, South Africa’s second democratic president, resigns from office.
Sep 23 2008
14 ministers and deputies resign from Cabinet.
Sep 25 2008
Deputy ANC leader Kgalema Motlanthe is sworn in as South Africa’s interim president until the next year’s election.
Cartoonists show little sympathy for the fallen president. His disastrous Aids denialism, sycophantic quiet diplomacy in Zimbabwe and deluded campaign for a third term have overshadowed his great strides as an African statesman. Jacob Zuma, by contrast, is portrayed as a streetwise populist, muscled into power by a gang of
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Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 25/09/08
Mangena, Sunday World, 14/09/08
END OF AN ERROR
thugs. Zapiro’s Rape of Justice cartoon, published on September 7 in response to ANC threats against the judiciary, is charged with menace. It unleashes a storm of controversy, including a number of threats against the cartoonist, which are immediately interpreted by other cartoonists as an attack on their own freedom of expression.
DON’T JOKE!
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NOT A LEGACY TO STAND ON
5
Mbeki’s dreams are consigned to the dustbin of history.
Brandan , Saturday Argus, 20/09/08
Zapiro, Sunday Times, 21/09/08 Themba Siwela, Sowetan, 15/04/09
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Yalo, Sowetan, 22/09/08
Brandan, Sunday Argus, 21/09/08
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
END OF AN ERROR
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Zapiro, Sunday Times, 07/09/08
Stidy, The Witness, 20/12/08
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 11/09/08
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 11/09/08
Brandan, Business Day, 10/09/08
11/13/09 3:47:40 PM
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DON’T JOKE!
END OF AN ERROR
THE RAPE OF JUSTICE 6
Zapiro’s controversial cartoon sparks a furious debate.
SHOOTING THE MESSENGER
7
Cartoonists respond to threats against free expression.
Chip, Cape Argus, 09/09/08 Brandan, Business Day, 16/04/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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END OF AN ERROR
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8
CARETAKER PRESIDENCY Motlanthe is ushered in to warm Zuma’s seat.
DATELINES Sep 25 2008 Kgalema Motlanthe is sworn in as South Africa’s interim president. He will serve until the 2009 general election.
Zapiro, Sunday Times, 08/02/09
Dec 8 2008 Suspended director of public prosecutions Vusi Pikoli is fired by Motlanthe despite the Ginwala report, which recommends his reinstatement. Jan 12 2009 Judge Louis Harms overturns the Nicholson ruling, reinstating corruption charges against Zuma. Feb 12 2009 President Motlanthe proclaims April 22 as the date of the general election. Apr 6 2009 Acting national director of public prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe drops the charges against Zuma after phone-tap evidence confirms that there has been political interference.
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Chip, Cape Argus, 26/09/08
CARETAKER PRESIDENCY
Pilate washing his hands as Justice is crucified. Mpshe is prodded by ANC strategists towards dropping the charges. The mechanism used to achieve this is a tangle of (illegally) taped evidence. Free at last, Zuma flicks the cloud away, and raises his arms in triumph. But in Brandan’s resonant cartoon of April 8, his hands have been amputated.
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 06/10/08
Apr 14 2009 8 days before the general election the SABC cancels, “On legal advice”, an episode of its Special Assignment programme examining the use of satire and cartoon strips in the South African media.
Motlanthe is portrayed as Zuma’s puppet or chauffeur, a caretaker on whose watch the ground will be prepared for Zuma’s assault on the presidency. In a mixture of Roman and French revolution metaphors, Esterhuyse pinpoints the Pikoli beheading as a crucial strategic moment. The Roman theme is continued by Zapiro who casts Pikoli’s replacement, Mokotedi Mpshe, as a cynical Pontius
DON’T JOKE!
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Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 04/10/08
Brandan, Business Day, 04/05/09
Zapiro, Sunday Times, 28/09/08
Yalo, Sowetan, 10/02/09
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 24/09/08
11/13/09 3:47:50 PM
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CARETAKER PRESIDENCY
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
9 PRESIDENTIAL PUPPET
Motlanthe’s presidency comes with strings attached.
10
ABORTED Assignment SABC cans a Special Assignment programme on political satire.
Chip, Cape Argus, 27/05/09
Nell, The Times, 28/05/09
CARETAKER PRESIDENCY
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DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:47:55 PM
Judgment CALLS
11
As Zuma’s legal battle intensifies, heads begin to roll.
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 10/12/08 Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 16/09/08
Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 02/08/08
Madam & Eve
S. Francis & Rico, Madam & Eve
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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CARETAKER PRESIDENCY
11/13/09 3:47:58 PM
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HARMS’ WAY The redoubtable Judge Harms overthrows the Nicholson Judgment.
Nell, The Times, 14/01/09 Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 15/01/09
CARETAKER PRESIDENCY
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DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:48:00 PM
DROP THE CHARGES!
13
A tangled web of evidence points to political interference.
Mothowagae, City Press, 22/03/09 Brandan, The Weekender, 11/04/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 03/04/09
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Brandan, Sunday Argus, 05/04/2009
Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 05/09/08
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
CARETAKER PRESIDENCY
11/13/09 3:48:01 PM
14
BEYOND THE LAW The necessary steps are taken to secure Zuma’s freedom.
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 08/04/09 Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 08/04/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 06/04/09
Madam & Eve
S. Francis & Rico, Madam & Eve
CARETAKER PRESIDENCY
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DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:48:02 PM
FREE AT LAST
15
Mpshe’s fateful decision clears the way for Zuma’s presidential campaign.
Chip, Cape Argus, 07/04/09 Brandan, Business Day, 08/04/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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CARETAKER PRESIDENCY
11/13/09 3:48:06 PM
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MARCHING TO PRETORIA The inevitability of a Zuma presidency becomes apparent.
DATELINES Sep 14 2008
Cleared of criminal charges, the ANC president announces the start of the ANC election campaign to thousands of cadres at the Pretoria Showgrounds.
Dec 09 2008
Discredited UDF struggle icon Allan Boesak joins Cope. Yalo, Sowetan, 09/08
Jan 10 2009
The ANC launches its election manifesto at an East London stadium, packed to capacity with over 60 000 supporters.
Jan 22 2009
The ANC electoral list features Winnie Mandela amongst its top candidates.
Jun 17 2008
ANC Youth League president Julius Malema’s threat to “Kill for Zuma” is reiterated by trade union boss Zwelinzima Vavi and others.
MARCHING TO PRETORIA
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loyalists, borne along by anti-Zuma sentiment, serve divorce papers to the ruling party. In a crude but effective cartoon, Mangena puts it all down to ass-licking. The ANC responds by wheeling a frail Madiba onstage for a much-needed endorsement, to a chorus of protests. But hardly anyone can hear anything anymore above the din of name-calling as the usual suspects line up for election.
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 24/03/09
The ANC brings Nelson Mandela out of retirement to endorse the ANC at an Eastern Cape election rally.
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 08/04/09
Feb 15 2009
As early as September 2008, Yalo envisages Zuma, enfant terrible on his back, striding confidently towards his goal. Zuma deploys the noisy Vuvulema to lure his enemies into sideshow skirmishes, while he strategises with his troika. Malema, the blabbermouth whom liberals love to hate, grabs hold of the headlines and won’t let go. His statements are so extreme that even an irritated Gwede Mantashe tries to swat him down. Meanwhile a disaffected Lekota and other Mbeki
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:48:08 PM
Jerm, The Times, 28/04/09
Nanda Soobben, The Post, 08/05/09
Qaps Mngandi, Isolezwe, 2009
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 24/04/09
Gavin Thomson and Dave Gomersal, Trek Net
11/13/09 3:48:16 PM
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MARCHING TO PRETORIA
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
17 MSHOLOZI THE MIGHTY
The Zuma tsunami gathers momentum.
18
KILL FOR ZUMA! Julius Malema’s threat raises a public outcry.
Stent, Noseweek, 08 Stidy, The Witness, 10/09/08
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 24/09/08
Madam & Eve
S. Francis & Rico, Madam & Eve
MARCHING TO PRETORIA
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DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:48:17 PM
MOTORMOUTH
19
The Youth League president throws the nation into a Malema dilemma.
Brandan, Business Day, 14/10/08 Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 18/11/09
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 13/02/09 Stent, Noseweek, 09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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MARCHING TO PRETORIA
11/13/09 3:48:24 PM
20
VUVULEMA Love him or hate him, Julius Malema is here to stay.
Chip, Cape Argus, 28/01/09 Brandan, The Weekender, 04/04/09
Jerm, The Times, 31/08/09
MARCHING TO PRETORIA
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DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:48:26 PM
UNHOLY TRINITY
21
The Tripartite Alliance girds its loins for a new struggle.
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 23/10/08
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Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 23/10/08
Brandan, The Weekender, 20/09/08
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
MARCHING TO PRETORIA
11/13/09 3:48:27 PM
22
AN ACRIMONIOUS DIVORCE Seething rivalries in the ANC are revealed.
Chip, Cape Argus, 09/10/09 Yalo, Sowetan, 09/10/08
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 10/10/08 Zapiro, Sunday Times, 12/10/08
MARCHING TO PRETORIA
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DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:48:28 PM
Mangena, Sunday World, 16/11/08
Stidy, The Witness, 25/09/08
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 30/10/08
Yalo, Sowetan, 10/08
Mangena, Sunday World, 19/10/08
11/13/09 3:48:35 PM
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MARCHING TO PRETORIA
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
23 THE BIG SPLIT
Resignations rock the ruling party.
24
BRING ON THAT OLD MADIBA MAGIC The ANC plays its trump card...
Yalo, Sowetan, 17/02/09
...and the family cashes in.
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Brandan, Business Day, 02/06/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 02/06/09
MARCHING TO PRETORIA
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:48:39 PM
INTERRUPTED RETIREMENT
25
A frail Madiba is wheeled out to endorse the ANC.
Brandan, Business Day, 12/03/09 Zapiro, The Times, 21/07/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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MARCHING TO PRETORIA
11/13/09 3:48:43 PM
26
THE USUAL SUSPECTS Dodgy characters dominate public life.
Jerm, The Times, 06/04/2009 Stidy, The Witness, 28/02/09
Zapiro, Sunday Times, 22/02/09
Madam & Eve
S. Francis & Rico, Madam & Eve
MARCHING TO PRETORIA
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DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:48:52 PM
POLITICAL ANIMALS
277
As things hot up in the political zoo, antagonists resort to naked insults.
Mynderd Vosloo, Beeld, 27/11/08
Yalo, Sowetan, 08/12/08
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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MARCHING TO PRETORIA
11/13/09 3:48:53 PM
28
OPPOSITIONAL POSITIONS Opposition parties consider their options as the general election approaches.
DATELINES Sep 29 2008
Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa resigns in solidarity with ousted president Thabo Mbeki.
Oct 8 2008
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 14/11/08
Former defence minister Mosiuoa “Terror” Lekota “serves divorce papers” on the ANC. He hints at forming a new party.
Oct 13 2008
The ANC suspends Lekota and deputy minister of defence Mluleki George.
Oct 14 2008
Shilowa resigns from the ANC.
Oct 31 2008
Lekota resigns from the ANC.
Nov 1–2 2008
The new party, named Congress of the People (Cope), is announced.
OPPOSITIONAL POSITIONS
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the use of the word “Congress” in the new party’s name demonstrates a latent totalitarianism. But it’s Grogan’s Weber-braaiing Newlands local who has the last word. Much consternation is caused when the furious Arch, incensed by Malema’s comparison of Zuma with Christ, openly condemns the ANC. Months later, in a naughty Mangena cartoon, a camp Tutu eventually allows himself to be smooched by an amorous Zuma.
Brandan, Saturday Argus, 18/04/09
Nov 6 2008
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 21/04/09
Shilowa and Lekota host a convention to investigate the prospect of forming a new party. The ANC attempts to block the use of the word “Congress” in the party’s name.
Storms gather as the ANC locomotive heads for the voting station, towing most of South Africa behind it. Disgruntled outsiders are united in a common cause to ‘Stop Zuma!’ High hopes surround the formation of Cope, but the cartoonists are sceptical. Mouton’s grimfaced pirates hope for a lucky hit on the ANC’s massive hull, while St Terror and his disciples build their flimsy church on dodgy foundations. In Stent’s eyes, the ANC’s attempts to block
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:48:56 PM
CONGRESS OF DISSENT
29
The breakaway party begins to take shape.
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 22/11/08 Brandan, Saturday Argus, 15/11/08
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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OPPOSITIONAL POSITIONS
11/13/09 3:48:57 PM
30
WHAT’S IN A NAME? Cope challenges ANC claims to the word “Congress”.
Stent, Noseweek, 08 Stidy, The Witness, 11/02/09
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 26/02/09
Madam & Eve
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Grogan, Cape Times
S. Francis & Rico, Madam & Eve
OPPOSITIONAL POSITIONS
“A lot of South Africans are regarding the new breakaway party as the Cope of Good Hope.”
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:48:59 PM
ET TU, TUTU?
31
The Arch provokes strong reactions by criticising the ANC.
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 06/04/09
Stidy, The Witness, 02/12/08
Mangena, Sunday World, 09/08/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 03/04/09
Madam & Eve
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Grogan, Cape Times
S. Francis & Rico, Madam & Eve
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
“I hope those followers of Zuma can swim because the next thing he’s going to be walking on water.”
OPPOSITIONAL POSITIONS
11/13/09 3:49:06 PM
32
X MARKS THE SPOT Voters are faced with some difficult choices.
DATELINES Apr 22 2009
17.9 million people vote peacefully in SA’s 4th democratic election, representing 77% of all registered voters.
Apr 24 2009
Zapiro, Sunday Times, 19/04/09
With the results almost tallied, the ANC claims election victory, opening the door for Zuma’s presidency.
Apr 25 2009
The IEC announces the election results: the ANC wins 65.9% of the national vote, just shy of the coveted two-thirds majority, followed by the DA with 16.7% and Cope with 7.4%. The ANC takes 8 provinces, while the DA takes the Western Cape.
Zapiro’s “Ballot Box Blues” perfectly expresses the consternation of the disaffected ANC supporter. The ANC is stopped miraculously short of a Constitution-threatening two-thirds majority, and the Western Cape is wrested from Zuma’s grasp by an ever-defiant Helen Zille. Cartoon maps show Zille occupying a last outpost, a mere munch away from being swallowed up by a voracious ANC.
Cope’s performance is disappointing but not unimpressive, while the rest of the little parties perform miserably. Everyone declares democracy to be the real winner. Jeremy Nell’s cartoon congratulating the nation is quoted in the IEC’s official announcement of the result. It’s a moment that brings back something of the euphoria of April 27 1994.
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 20/04/09
X MARKS THE SPOT
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DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:49:07 PM
FREE AND FAIR
33
SA’s fourth democratic election draws accolades.
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 17/04/09 Jerm, The Times, 23/04/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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OPPOSITIONAL POSITIONS
11/13/09 3:49:10 PM
34
WINNER TAKES (NEARLY) ALL The DA holds onto the last vestige of European colonialism in Africa.
Chip, Cape Argus, 24/04/09 Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 24/04/09
Wiggett, The Herald, 27/04/09
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Miles, Daily Dispatch, 25/06/09
Jerm, The Times, 24/04/09
X MARKS THE SPOT
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:49:13 PM
WATERSHED MOMENT
35
The Zuma era begins.
DATELINES May 9 2009
Jacob Zuma is inaugurated as South Africa’s 4th democratic president at the Union Buildings.
May 10 2009
Mynderd Vosloo, Beeld, 23/02/08
President Zuma appoints a businessfriendly cabinet, structured to accommodate a powerful new economic planning commission in the presidency.
Jun 3 2009
President Zuma’s state of the nation address sets sights on poverty, unemployment, crime, education and healthcare.
Jul 7 2009
Senior Cope leaders Lynda Odendaal and Simon Grindrod resign, citing frustrations with the party’s leadership.
“What took you guys so long?” asks Yalo’s Zuma, smugly parked at the finish line, while Zapiro’s Zuma gets a drenching from that damnable shower. In a cosmic turn, Mynderd Vosloo invests the transition from Mbeki to Zuma with astronomical gravitas. These cartoons reveal the vast differences in opinion that exist in South Africa as the Zuma era begins. Comparisons with Mandela and Mbeki are
inevitable, but most cartoonists see it as a downward slide. Interestingly, in all of these cartoons, Kgalema Motlanthe is entirely eclipsed, as though his presidency never happened. The ANC’s election promises impose themselves as the first order of business, and Zuma’s hounds yap noisily for their gnaw on the bone. Meanwhile, in the cold light of the post-election dawn, Cope starts to come apart at the seams.
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 07/05/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 23/04/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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WATERSHED MOMENT
11/13/09 3:49:14 PM
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 17/02/09
Nanda Soobben, The Post, 18/08/09
Brandan, Business Day, 23/09/08
Nell, The Times, 15/09/08
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 16/04/09
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 08/05/09
11/13/09 3:50:17 PM
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DON’T JOKE!
WATERSHED MOMENT
DEGREES OF COMPARISON 36
The big question: Will Zuma measure up?
RETURNING THE FAVOUR
37
Zuma’s lieutenants line up for deployment.
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 28/04/09 Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 05/05/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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OPPOSITIONAL POSITIONS
11/13/09 3:50:19 PM
38
PROMISES, PROMISES Can the great expectations of ANC supporters be met?
Weyni Deysel, The Citizen, 04/06/09 Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 06/06/09
Madam & Eve
S. Francis & Rico, Madam & Eve
WATERSHED MOMENT
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DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:50:23 PM
NOT COPING
39
Cope struggles with the post-election blues.
Brandan, Business Day, 23/06/09
Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 11/07/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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OPPOSITIONAL POSITIONS
11/13/09 3:50:24 PM
40
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH The USA has its Madiba moment as Obama becomes its first black president.
DATELINES Jun 3 2008
Senator Barack Obama beats Senator Hillary Clinton in a tough battle for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
Nanda Soobben, The Mercury, 06/11/08
Nov 4 2008
Americans go to the polls to elect their 44th president.
Nov 5 2008
Obama beats Republican John McCain by a substantial margin.
Jan 20 2009
The world celebrates the historic inauguration of the first US black president.
Jan 20 2009
George Bush leaves the White House. The Bush and Clinton families have occupied it for almost two decades.
South Africans are momentarily dragged away from their parochial politics to celebrate the triumph of Barack Obama. Mangena gives the moment an amusing umshini wami twist while Yalo and Zapiro resort to emotional references to Martin Luther King’s dream. Grogan sets his quip to the tune of “Daar kom die Alabama” while Chip, in a cartoon done several months later on the occasion of Obama’s visit to our continent, emphasises the African significance of his achievement.
Of all the South African responses, Mgobhozi’s is perhaps the most prescient, questioning the mythmaking tendencies of a nation whose greatest contribution to world culture has been the creation of comic book superheroes. The only people mourning the end of Bush’s reign are the cartoonists, who have lost a great symbol of just about everything that’s wrong with the world.
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Mangena, Sunday World, 10/05/09
Mynderd Vosloo, Beeld, 06/11/08
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:50:37 PM
A DREAM COME TRUE
41
Martin Luther King’s dream comes true.
Yalo, Sowetan, 06/11/08
Zapiro, Sunday Times, 09/11/08
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 08/04/09
Chip, Cape Argus, 13/07/09
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Mothogawae, City Press, 25/01/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
Grogan, Cape Times
“O, daar kom Barack Obama…”
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH
11/13/09 3:50:40 PM
Nell, The Times, 19/01/09
Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 17/01/09
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 05/11/08
Mynderd Vosloo, Beeld, 14/11/08
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 18/12/08
Nanda Soobben, The Mercury, 22/01/09
11/13/09 3:50:46 PM
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DON’T JOKE!
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH
BUSHED! 42
The world sighs with relief as George W. Bush leaves the stage.
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBOURHOOD 43 South Africans watch helplessly as their neighbour goes down.
DATELINES Apr 2 2008
Morgan Tsvangirai’s opposition MDC claims victory in Zimbabwe’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
May 16 2008
Nell, The Times. 06/01/09
Zimbabwe’s electoral authority rules that the MDC’s margin is insufficient to avoid a run-off election against Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF.
Jun 22 2008
Tsvangirai withdraws from the run-off, claiming intimidation.
Jun 27 2008
Despite global protest, Mugabe stages the runoff without the MDC’s participation.
July 31 2008
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe makes the official inflation rate public for the last time: Year-on-year hyperinflation is running at over 11.2 million percent pa.
Skulls and ruins proliferate amongst the plethora of Zimbabwe cartoons. Perhaps because he’s such an easy target, or maybe just because of his Hitler moustache, Mugabe attracts more cartoonists’ ink than any other politician. Most cartoonists have tried their hand at an Escher imitation, but Mynerd Vosloo’s circular stairway is nonetheless remarkable for its aptness in capturing the futility of Mbeki’s quiet diplomacy.
Yalo reveals that, in Africa, size really does count, while his fellow cartoonists delight in subjecting the unfortunate Tsvangirai to humilations of every sort. But it is the threat of cholera spreading across the border that really gets the jesters going. Once again, Mangena outdoes his colleagues in the bad taste department, but his vivid cartoon certainly brings the reality home.
Sept 15 2008
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Findlay, Sunday Sun, 12/08
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
Yalo, Sowetan, 23/01/09
Mugabe and Tsvangirai sign a powersharing deal, but it stumbles at the first step of appointing cabinet ministers. Estimated inflation rate: 471 000 000 000%.
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
11/13/09 3:50:49 PM
44
ZIMBABWE RUINS Quiet diplomacy is no match for megalomania.
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 11/11/08 Chip, Cape Argus, 11/02/09
Mynderd Vosloo, Beeld, 1/12/08
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Jerm, The Times, 24/06/09
Stidy, The Witness, 28/11/08
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:50:54 PM
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 12/02/09
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 23/02/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 10/08
Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 312/01/09
Mark Wiggett, The Herald, 13/02/09
Chip, Cape Argus, 30/01/09
11/13/09 3:50:57 PM
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THERE GOES THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
45 A RAW DEAL
Morgan Tsvangirai is outwitted by the wily Mugabe.
46
IN THE POO Zimbabwe’s cholera epidemic spreads to South Africa.
Yalo, Sowetan, 11/12/08
Mangena, Sunday World, 07/12/08
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 23/12/08
Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 10/01/09
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Grogan, Cape Times
Gavin Thomson & Dave Gomersal, Trek Net
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
“I believe there’s been an assassination attempt. Somebody put some local water in Mugabe’s whisky.”
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:51:01 PM
MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
47
The phrase from George Orwell’s Animal Farm seems worryingly appropriate.
DATELINES May 11 2009
Zuma’s enlarged cabinet is sworn in. He undertakes to urgently address the needs of the poor.
May 17 2009
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 17/10/08
New minister of transport S’bu Ndebele is found to have accepted a R1.1 million Mercedes-Benz gift from suppliers with contracts worth R400m to his department.
Jul 22 2009
Police fire rubber bullets during a wave of service delivery protests.
Jul 31 2009
Country-wide, tens of thousands of municipal workers down tools and take up demands for better wages.
Aug 26 2009
The pigs’ slogan from George Orwell’s scathing parody of Stalin’s Russia has been recycled so often that it’s become a cliché, but in the case of our own politicians, there is every excuse for dragging it out again. Miles’s fat cats are certainly more equal than the rest, while Mgobhozi’s homeless person, dreaming of a comfy bed, is the least equal of the lot. Jobs may be few, but Beemers are plentiful. The sleek sedan is the ultimate symbol of the successful
politician, in direct contrast to the tortoise and the snail, familiar symbols of the agonisingly slow delivery of basic services to the populace. But no other politician, not even the luxuryloving Comrade Blade, brings the nation’s blood to the boil as effectively as Carl Niehaus, the “corrupt, lying fraudster” who tried to gain public sympathy with a blubbering confession.
The purchase by higher education and training minister Blade Nzimande (also general secretary of the SA Communist Party) of a R1.1m official BMW raises questions.
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 18/11/08
Sep 3 2009
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 01/05/09
Disgruntled SANDF members storm the Union Buildings in Pretoria, demanding better pay and conditions.
MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
11/13/09 3:51:04 PM
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 31/07/09
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 09/09/09
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 21/05/09
Stidy, The Witness, 24/07/09
S. Francis and Rico, Madam & Eve
DON’T JOKE!
MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
11/13/09 3:51:06 PM
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BOURGEOIS COMRADES 48
Cars give the game away.
Madam & Eve
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 19/02/09
Brandan, The Weekender, 14/02/09
Chip, Cape Argus, 19/02/09
Weyni Deysel, The Citizen, 13/07/09
Brandan, Business Day, 17/02/09
11/13/09 3:51:08 PM
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MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
49 KAALGAT!
Power corrupts equally, without regard to race.
50
SERVICE, PLEASE! The cup of expectation is too big for the teapot of delivery.
Stidy, The Witness, 22/07/09
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 23/07/09
Zapiro, The Times, 23/07/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 03/06/09
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Grogan, Cape Times
Gavin Thomson and Dave Gomersal, Trek Net
MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
“I want prompt and regular service delivery. See that my Merc and my BMW are delivered for a service every 10,000 kms.”
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:51:12 PM
Zapiro, The Times, 28/07/09
Mothowagae, City Press, 26/07/09
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 28/07/09
Findlay, Sunday Sun, 07/09
Stent, Noseweek, 09
Yalo, Sowetan, 28/07/09
11/13/09 3:51:15 PM
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MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
51 STRIKING CONTRASTS
Disgruntled citizens take to the streets.
52
BREAD AND BUTTER ISSUES Struggle rhetoric won’t put food on the table.
Chip, Cape Argus, 23/07/09 Miles, Daily Dispatch, 10/11/08
Chip, Cape Argus, 06/01/09 Stidy, The Witness, 30/06/09
MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
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DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:51:17 PM
BUDGETARY CONSTRAINTS
53
The man in the street doesn’t want to end up on the street. Madam & Eve S. Francis and Rico, Madam & Eve Gavin Thomson and Deni Brown, Mama Taxi Gavin Thomson and Deni Brown, Mama Taxi
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
11/13/09 3:51:18 PM
54
A HOME TO DIE FOR A millionaire mogul settles in as Minister of Human Settlements.
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 05/08/09
Madam & Eve S. Francis and Rico, Madam & Eve
Madam & Eve S. Francis and Rico, Madam & Eve
MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
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DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:51:19 PM
JURISIMPRUDENCE
55
An incorruptible, independent judiciary is one of the pillars of our democracy.
DATELINES May 18 2008
Cape judge president John Hlophe is accused of “an improper attempt to influence the court’s pending judgment” in the Zuma corruption case. He is suspended, pending the outcome of a hearing. Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 13/08/09
Feb 12 2009
The elite crime-fighting unit, the Scorpions, is to be disbanded against attempts by President Thabo Mbeki to save it. A new unit will be formed under control of the police.
Mar 3 2009
The imprisoned Schabir Shaik, formerly Zuma’s financial advisor, is given medical parole on the grounds that he is in the final stages of a terminal illness.
Apr 7 2009
Oct 21 2009
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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Yalo, Sowetan, 13/11/08
“Terminally ill” Schabir Shaik is reportedly observed playing golf, and looking much better.
out how unfair the decision to parole him was to thousands of other sick prisoners, many dying of Aids. The degeneration of the justice system is evocatively symbolised by the termination of the Scorpions. As Yalo’s coffin cartoon eloquently suggests, there are many in the government and ruling party who were very relieved to see the unit dead and buried.
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 10/09/08
Hlophe’s lawyers request a 3rd postponement of his misconduct hearing, saying he is ill with flu.
If we can’t trust the judges, who can we trust? Two in particular, Hlophe and Motata, have come to symbolise a public loss of faith in the judicial system and the independence of the judiciary. Hlophe has become a favourite cartoonists’ target, from Zapiro’s gangster holding Justice hostage to Chip’s smug absentee proudly displaying his medical certificate. But when it comes to rogues working the system, none has generated more jokes than Schabir Shaik. Both Yalo and Mgobhozi were quick to point
JURISIMPRUDENCE
11/13/09 3:51:21 PM
56
HLOPHE SPRINGS ETERNAL One man takes on the entire judicial system – and wins? Brandan, Business Day, 04/06/09 (not published)
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 14/08/09
Andy, Sunday Times, 2009
Chip, Cape Argus, 03/06/09
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Grogan, Cape Times
Zapiro, The Times, 26/05/09
JURISIMPRUDENCE
“It seems to get a senior position in the South African judiciary you need the wisdom of Solomon and the friendship of Zuma.”
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:51:27 PM
Chip, Cape Argus, 07/03/09
Nanda Soobben, PAPER, DATE
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 11/03/09
Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 09/03/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 04/03/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 10/03/09
11/13/09 3:51:30 PM
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JURISIMPRUDENCE
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
57 ON SHAKY GROUNDS
Very few people believe that Schabir Shaik is too sick to be in prison.
58
THE STING Reprobates celebrate as the corruption busters are disabled.
Chip, Cape Argus, 22/10/08
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Yalo, Sowetan, October 2009
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 24/10/08
JURISIMPRUDENCE
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:51:33 PM
UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS
59
The wide range of worrying symptoms is a cause for alarm.
DATELINES Mar 14 2009
60% of the population of a Mexican town contracts an unknown respiratory illness, later confirmed to be a new strain of N1H1 virus – swine flu.
Apr 30 2009
Jerm, The Times, 25/05/09
Swine flu spreads to Canada, Spain, the UK, Israel, NZ, Germany and Australia.
Jun 18 2009
Eskom announces its intention to raise electricity tariffs by 13.3% and by another 14.2% in December. The utility requests a 53% hike.
Jul 3 2009
A Stellenbosch student becomes the first confirmed swine flu death in South Africa. Two days later a second death is recorded in Durban.
Of all the unhealthy situations we face, none is as unhealthy as the health system itself. Findlay’s bandaged escapee says it all. As Jerm points out, it would be great if as much panic was directed at the country’s real health threats as has been drummed up around swine flu. ‘What is the true cost of gold?’ asks Dr Jack, commenting on the unconscionable number of deaths on the country’s mines. Similar questions arise around the monopolies that cynically exploit
the helpless consumer, tellingly evoked in Qaps Mngandi’s image of a citizen chasing an elusive loaf of bread. The deplorable state of the SABC, the incompetence of Eskom, the crisis in the school system and the carnage on our roads are all symptoms of an unhealthy condition. We need role models to help us fix it, but where to find them? Certainly not in the soon-to-be-renamed police service, or in the behaviour of our politicians.
Jul 29 2009
Bheki Cele, appointed to replace Jackie Selebi as police commissioner, calls on cops to “shoot to kill”.
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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Findlay, Sunday Sun, 05/09
Mine deaths in South Africa amount to 117 for the year to date – one every two days.
Yalo, Sowetan, 23/06/09
Sep 4 2009
UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS
11/13/09 3:51:36 PM
Nell, The Times, 05/08/09
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 01/05/09
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 24/07/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 20/07/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 08/07/09
Stidy, The Witness, 30/07/09
11/13/09 3:51:41 PM
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DON’T JOKE!
UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS
IF PIGS FLEW 60
One more virus for South Africans to worry about.
LABOUR PAINS
61
Money is not the only currency that needs to be safeguarded.
Jerm, The Times, 24/07/09
Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 25/07/09
Wiggett, Daily Dispatch, 28/08/09
Mothowagae, City Press, 24/05/09
Madam & Eve S. Francis and Rico, Madam & Eve
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS
11/13/09 3:51:43 PM
62
MONOPOLY, ANYONE? Corporations pickpocket the national purse.
Chip, Cape Argus, 08/01/09
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Qaps Mngandi, Isolezwe, 10/07/09
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 20/05/09
UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:51:45 PM
LOOSE TONGUES
63
Bitter words do nothing to ease political tensions.
Mangena, Sunday World, 31/05/09 Nell, The Times, 26/02/09
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 14/05/09
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Nell, The Times, 27/05/09
Nell, The Times, 25/06/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS
11/13/09 3:51:51 PM
64
POWERLESS Eskom holds out a candle to the South African public.
Dr Jack, Fin Week, 2009 Gavin Thomson and Dave Gomersal, Trek Net
Madam & Eve S. Francis and Rico, Madam & Eve
UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS
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DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:51:54 PM
IGNORANCE ISN’T BLISS
65
Exam papers get easier while it gets harder to find a job.
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 05/01/09 Yalo, Sowetan, 17/08/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS
11/13/09 3:51:55 PM
Nell, The Times, 17/04/09
Brandan, Business Day, 18/05/09
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 06/08/09
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 21/04/09
S. Francis and Rico, Madam & Eve
DON’T JOKE!
UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS
11/13/09 3:51:58 PM
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STATIC 66
The public broadcaster makes a complete mess of its mandate.
Madam & Eve
Nell, The Times
Yalo, Sowetan, 31/07/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 07/07/09
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 25/07/09
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 13/08/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 04/06/09
11/13/09 3:52:02 PM
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UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
67 COPS AND ROBBERS
The government gets tough on crime.
68
ROLE MODELS Setting a good example is easier said than done.
Wiggett, The Herald, 28/10/09 Yalo, Sowetan, 24/02/09
UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS
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11/13/09 3:52:04 PM
DEATH AND TAXIS
69
In life, two things are certain: death and taxis.
Stidy, The Witness, 21/02/09
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Wiggett, The Herald, 27/08/09
Vosloo, Beeld, 12/12/08
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
UNHEALTHY SITUATIONS
11/13/09 3:52:06 PM
70
TEMPERATURES RISING Doomsayers gloat as a feverish planet begins to sweat.
DATELINES Sep 3 2008
Unsecured subprime loans threaten to bring down US mortgage bank Fannie Mae, but it is saved by government intervention.
Sep 16 2008
Mynderd Vosloo, Beeld, 18/10/08
Lehman Brothers goes under as the credit crunch takes hold. In the UK, Lloyds takes over HBOS in a rescue mission.
Dec 27 2008
Israel accelerates its tit-for-tat hostilities with Palestine with air raids on Gaza that will claim more than 1 400 lives in 22 days.
Mar 3 2009
Terrorists kill 8 in an ambush on the touring Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan – the most serious attack on an international sporting event since the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
Mar 28 2009
The world is going haywire, but no one, it seems, can do much about it. Vosloo’s surfing financier hopes for the tube-ride of his life, but a wipeout seems more likely. Meanwhile, Madam & Eve’s balaclava-clad thieves wait for Earth Hour. Zapiro wryly compares the failure of the free market model with the failure of communism. Clearly, the only path worth travelling lies between these two extremes. Initially, we kid ourselves that
the meltdown has passed us by, until the recession ogre joins crime, joblessness, Aids and corruption to scrum down against us. Meanwhile, bombs and missiles continue to land on innocent communities and a terror attack adds unwanted excitement to an international sporting event. Deysel comments on our own contribution to this mess, as we quietly hawk weapons to scurrilous warmongers.
Madam & Eve
TEMPERATURES RISING
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S. Francis and Rico, Madam & Eve
South Africans switch off an estimated 6.7 million light bulbs in solidarity with the global WWF Earth Hour campaign to draw attention to the severity of climate change.
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:52:10 PM
MELTDOWN!
71
The global economy goes toxic.
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 11/06/09 Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 03/01/09
Chip, The Argus, 07/10/08
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Grogan, Cape Times
Gavin Thomson and Dave Gomersal, Trek Net
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
“I’m going to the bank to arrange a loan. My bank manager needs one.”
TEMPERATURES RISING
11/13/09 3:52:12 PM
72
CRISIS, WHAT CRISIS? South Africans fondly hope that the global recession will pass them by.
Chip, The Argus, 12/02/09
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Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 04/06/09
Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 27/11/08
TEMPERATURES RISING
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:52:14 PM
Chip, The Argus, 29/12/08
Nell, The Times, 09/01/09
Zapiro, Sunday Times, 31/05/09
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 05/03/08
Weyni Deysel, The Citizen, 05/08/09
Stidy, The Witness, 29/11/09
11/13/09 3:52:17 PM
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TEMPERATURES RISING
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
73 WAR AND TERROR
There is no end to terror, whatever its source.
74
INTO AFRICA The colonisation of Africa continues in various forms.
DATELINES Feb 2 2009
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi recommits himself to the creation of a United States of Africa as he is elected head of the African Union.
Mar 19 2009
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 20/04/09
On his first visit to the continent, the Pope calls on Africans to abstain from using condoms. Over 22 million sub-Saharan Africans are infected with HIV.
Mar 23 2009
The Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual leader, is refused a visa to attend a peace conference in South Africa. His supporters suspect Chinese influence in the decision.
July 12 2009
US President Obama visits the continent of his fathers, but skips Kenya because of its poor democracy record.
The scramble for Africa continues as Deysel’s Platteland boer heads out on a new Great Trek, and the Chinese reinvent colonialism. Nell’s Chairman Zuma suggests that our own Cultural Revolution may well be at hand. The decision to bar the Dalai Lama’s visit draws forth a flood of angry ink. But, as Dr Jack reminds us, the customer is always right, so our foreign policy chefs had better take a crash course in Chinese cuisine.
Meanwhile, the Pope pops over to make sure that condoms remain taboo, and both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton make African pilgrimages, although the latter’s is maddeningly overshadowed by her husband’s schmoozing in North Korea. Sadly, all that’s left of Mbeki’s African renaissance dream is the mind-numbing prospect of Emperor Gaddafi.
Aug 6 2009
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Zapiro, Sunday Times, 09/08/09
INTO AFRICA
Nell, The Times, 19/03/09
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton visits South Africa and six other African states to cement relationships, while her husband, former US president Clinton, negotiates the release of two female journalists from a North Korean prison.
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:52:19 PM
RENAISSANCE MAN
75
Mbeki’s vision of an African renaissance fuels Gaddafi’s royal delusion.
Brandan, Business Day, 04/02/09
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Mgobhozi, Independent Newspapers, 03/09/09
Nanda Soobben, 09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
INTO AFRICA
11/13/09 3:52:21 PM
76
HOWZIT, CHINA! The Chinese reinvent colonialism in Africa.
Nell, The Times, 25/03/09
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Nell, The Times, 27/03/09
Dr Jack, Mail & Guardian, 27/03/09
INTO AFRICA
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:52:23 PM
DAAR GAAN DIE DALAI LAMA
77
He who pays the piper calls the tune.
Zapiro, Sunday Times, 05/04/09 Brandan, Business Day, 26/03/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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INTO AFRICA
11/13/09 3:52:24 PM
78
GOALS AND PENALTIES Sport offers little respite from the realities of life.
SCORELINE USAIN BOLT
The Jamaican lightning-bolt sets a new world record for the 100 metres at Beijing’s Olympic Games, on August 16 2008, and breaks it exactly one year later.
BAFANA BAFANA
Mothowagae, City Press, 24/05/09
Under coach Joel Santana the team performs poorly in the Confederations Cup and slips to 85 in world rankings.
PROTEAS
Our cricket team wins against top opponents, including a magnificent test win over Australia. Fans’ euphoria is barely dampened by a premature exit from the ICC Champions Trophy.
SPRINGBOKS
Semenya’s magnificent 800m win in Berlin is overshadowed by a controversy over her gender status. GOALS AND PENALTIES
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Yalo, Sowetan, 24/06/09
CASTER SEMENYA
especially after the disappointment engendered by the sexual politics surrounding Caster Semenya’s great achievement. Bare-cheeked Chuene is the one who should have been tested – with a polygraph. At least Fifa’s acknowledged our national dependence on the vuvuzela. Not so lucky, though, is the plucky springbok, threatened with extinction. And as for our coaches, do they praat k*k, or what?
Wiggett, The Herald, 16/10/09
Despite political calls for a new rugby emblem, our world champions continue their success, lifting the Tri-Nations Trophy and securing their place as top rugby team in the world. Springbok coach Peter de Villiers is dizzied by it all.
Sport offers the couch potato welcome relief from our various woes. Or does it? 2010 may not turn out to be a panacea. At least the stadium construction workers got something out of it, even if they had to strike for a decent wage. Now all we need is some strikers on our soccer team. As Wiggett points out, Bafana’s trophy room offers little incentive for the burglar. But at least cricket’s Captain Courageous is there to inspire us. We certainly need inspiration,
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:52:26 PM
LADUMA!
79
Great wins make life more bearable for the couch potato.
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 01/04/09
Wiggett, The Herald, 09/01/09
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 30/12/08
Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 27/06/09
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Grogan, Cape Times
Mangena, Sunday World, 21/06/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
“And, yes, it looks as though Graeme Smith, the Proteas captain, is coming out to bat after all!”
GOALS AND PENALTIES
11/13/09 3:52:30 PM
Yalo, Sowetan, 02/09/08
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 20/10/08
Nell, The Times, 17/10/08
Stidy, The Witness, 11/10/08
Mynderd Vosloo, Beeld, 20/11/08
11/13/09 3:52:33 PM
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GOALS AND PENALTIES
CONTESTED EMBLEM 80
The springbok logo becomes a political football.
Zapiro, The Times, 11/06/09
Weyni Deysel, The Citizen, 11/06/09
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 10/07/09
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 12/06/09
Findlay, Sunday Sun, June 2009
11/13/09 3:52:35 PM
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GOALS AND PENALTIES
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
81 TWENTY-TEN VISION
Everyone wants to make something out of the World Cup.
Nell, The Times, 10/07/2009
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 19/08/08
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 22/07/09
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 30/06/09
Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 04/09/09
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GOALS AND PENALTIES
“Peter DE VILLIERS PRAAT KAK!” 82
De Villiers challenges Malema for the Foot In Mouth trophy.
Mothowagae, City Press, 23/08/09
Nell, The Times, 08/09/09
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 21/08/09
Dr Jack, Independent Newspapers, 22/08/09
Qaps Mngandi, Isolezwe, 2009
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 27/08/09
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THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
83 CASTERGATE
Caster Semenya’s phenomenal performance engenders a global debate.
84
NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED President Zuma’s first hundred days are destined to be dramatic.
DATELINES Feb 16 2009
A 15-member South African Airways crew is detained on drug charges at London’s Heathrow airport. R3.5m worth of cocaine is confiscated.
May 25 2009
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 10/05/09
President Zuma announces a new hotline to the President, open to ordinary members of the public. Callers and cartoonists respond enthusiastically.
July 18 2009
South Africa celebrates Madiba’s 91st birthday, the inaugural Mandela Day. Citizens are asked to commit themselves to 67 minutes’ community work.
July 19 2009
South Africa’s longserving Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni will retire and Gill Marcus will replace him.
President Zuma’s first hundred days went by in a blur. Especially for SAA’s zonked-out flight crews – until they got caught. Catching or, better still, killing criminals is a high priority these days, with a stylish new gunfighter heading up the police service, or is it the police force? Hopefully not too many people will die in the crossfire.
Luckily, when things go wrong, there’s always the presidential hotline, if you can get through, in between the president’s wives. But we mustn’t complain, or run away to Canada. Who wants to be an alien? Rather, let’s follow Madiba’s example, and really stretch ourselves to make this country work.
Aug 17 2009
Brandon Huntley causes a stir when the Canadian immigration and refugee board grants him refugee status based on his claims of racial persecution in South Africa. NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED
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Brandan, Business Day, 21/07/09
Sep 2 2009
Mgobhozi, Independent Papers, 12/05/09
Zuma’s first 100 days in office are met mostly with approval.
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:52:44 PM
FLYING HIGH
85
Airline drug busts tickle the national funny bone.
Yalo, Sowetan, 18/02/09
Brandan, Business Day, 18/02/09
Stidy, The Witness, 20/02/09
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 22/01/09
Madam & Eve S. Francis and Rico, Madam & Eve
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED
11/13/09 3:52:49 PM
86
OH, CANADA! The world’s most politically correct nation gets it horribly wrong.
Nell, The Times, 03/09/09
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Zapiro, The Times, 03/09/09
Nell, The Times, 02/09/09
NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED
DON’T JOKE!
11/13/09 3:52:55 PM
Licence TO KILL
87
Bullets begin to fly as the new police chief gets into his stride.
Weyni Deysel, The Citizen, 31/07/09
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 07/08/09
Wiggett, The Herald, 31/07/09
Dr Jack, Independent Paper, 01/08/09
Madam & Eve
S. Francis and Rico, Madam & Eve
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED
11/13/09 3:52:57 PM
Chip, Cape Argus, 30/09/09
S. Francis and Rico, Madam & Eve
Zapiro, The Times, 01/09/09
Miles, Daily Dispatch, 20/08/09
Gavin Thomson and Dave Gomersal, Trek Net
11/13/09 3:52:59 PM
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NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED
ALIEN NATION 88
A sci-fi movie gives us a sobering glimpse of ourselves.
Dr Jack, 21/03/09
Brandan, Business Day, 29/05/09
Chip, Cape Argus, 20/07/09
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 21/07/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 21/07/09
Nell, The Times, 21/07/09
11/13/09 3:53:02 PM
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NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
89 OVERINFLATED
Hot air rises, but can it keep inflation down?
90
PUT THE PRESIDENT ON THE LINE President Zuma’s hotline is a great idea – if you can get through.
Frans Esterhuyse, Beeld, 26/06/09
Nell, The Times, 18/09/09
Mgobhozi, Independent Papers, 26/05/09
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 26/05/09 Gavin Thomson and Dave Gomersal, Trek Net
NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED
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11/13/09 3:53:06 PM
ONE HUNDRED DAYS
91
Zuma passes his first big test.
Nell, The Times, 14/08/09
Zapiro, Mail & Guardian, 20/08/09
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED
11/13/09 3:53:08 PM
Chip, Cape Argus, 17/07/09
Nell, The Times, 20/07/09
Findlay, Sunday Sun, 07/09
Mangena, Sunday World, 19/07/09
Nanda Sobben, The Post, 07/08
Mgobhozi, Independent Papers, 16/07/09
11/13/09 3:53:20 PM
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NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED
DOING TIME FOR MADIBA 92
Madiba challenges us all to follow his example.
Nell, The Times, 11/08/09
Nanda Sobben, The Post, 04/09
Dr Jack, Independent Papers, 21/03/09
Yalo, Sowetan, 12/09/08
Weyni Deysel, The Citizen, 17/06/09
Thomson, Peoples Post, 16/09/08
11/13/09 3:53:35 PM
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NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
93 DAYS OF OUR LIVES
We have plenty of public holidays, but what do they mean?
Brandan, Business Day, 05/01/09
Stidy, The Witness, 27/06/09
Nell, The Times, 18/09/09
Brandan, Business Day, 11/11/08
Fred Mouton, Die Burger, 11/11/08
11/13/09 3:53:38 PM
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NOUGHT TO A HUNDRED
HAMBA KAHLE 94
Lives lived to the max.
THE CARTOONISTS ANDY (Dave Anderson) began his cartooning career at the Natal Witness in the 1970s, and drew for a number of SA papers before emigrating to Canada. He is based in Toronto but continues to produce a weekly feature cartoon for the Sunday Times. BRANDAN (Brandan Reynolds) grew up in Lansdowne in Cape Town. A pioneer of digital rendering, he is probably South Africa’s most prolific editorial cartoonist, providing regular cartoons for Business Day, The Weekender, Rapport and Weekend Argus. CHIP (Chip Snaddon) began drawing for the UDF paper South in the late 1980s and now draws the daily cartoon for the Cape Argus. He also freelances as a storyboard artist in the advertising industry. Dr JACK (Jack Swanepoel) provides editorial cartoons for the Pretoria News and feature illustrations for the Mail & Guardian. Highly accomplished and prolific, he produces covers, illustrations and cartoons for a range of magazines. He lives on a farm in Mpumalanga. F ESTERHUYSE (Frans Esterhuyse) grew up in Johannesburg and began drawing for Oggendblad in the 1970s, followed by Hoofstad, Die Transvaler, The Citizen and Rapport. At present he freelances, mainly for Beeld, and has time for his great love, landscape painting. FINDLAY (Alistair Findlay) began his cartooning career in Vrye Weekblad in the 1980s and has produced comics and cartoons for alternative and mainstream publications since then. He produces weekly editorial cartoons for the Sunday Sun, Sondag and Son. FRED MOUTON is the third incumbent in a dynasty that goes back to 1915, when the great Daniel Boonzaier was appointed as the country’s first full-time daily cartoonist on Die Burger. Boonzaier’s chair went to TO Honiball, and Mouton took over on Honiball’s retirement in 1970. Mouton has published three collections of his work. His most recent, which appeared in 2009, is entitled Van Zuma tot Zille. GAVIN THOMSON, DENI BROWN and DAVE GOMERSAL are the creators of two nationally syndicated comic strips illustrated by Thomson. Mama Taxi is written by Deni Brown and Trek Net is written Dave Gomersal. Thomson also produces a weekly editorial cartoon syndicated in 10 editions of The People’s Post in the Western Cape. GROGAN (Tony Grogan) has been drawing for the Cape Times since 1974, and his work frequently appears in other publications. He is an acclaimed watercolour artist and his five books, each celebrating some town or region of the country, are highly sought after as collectors’ items. He has also published a number of collections of his cartoons. JERM/NELL (Jeremy Nell) has drawn the front-page cartoon for The Times since 2007. Born in 1979, he began his career online with his strip Urban Trash, which was widely syndicated before being replaced with his very popular current daily strip, The Biggish Five. He works digitally from a virtually paperless home studio. MANGENA (Bethuel Mangena) produces a weekly cartoon for the Sunday World and works as an animator and freelance cartoonist in Johannesburg. MYNDERD VOSLOO held full-time cartooning posts at the Pretoria News and The Argus before becoming a freelancer in 1986. He lives in picturesque Gordon’s Bay and concentrates on portraits and corporate work.
THE YEAR IN CARTOONS
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95 MGOBHOZI (Wilson Mgobhozi) began as an illustrator at The Star before taking over Zapiro’s slot at that paper in 2008. His progress has been rapid and his cartoons are now syndicated across the Independent Newspapers group. MILES (Cuan Miles) began working as cartoonist’s assistant to Lou Henning at the Perskor newspaper group in Johannesburg. Today he produces his Daily Dispatch cartoons from his home studio in East London. MOTHOWAGAE (Daniel Mothowagae), a senior sports writer at City Press, grew up in Alexandra township in Johannesburg and recently fulfilled a childhood dream when he began drawing cartoons for that paper. NANDA SOOBBEN was the first black SA cartoonist to be employed by a mainstream paper (Daily News) as an editorial cartoonist. He began his career at Post (Natal) in 1980. At present he freelances and runs a cartooning, animation and design school in Durban. QAPS (Qaps Mngandi) is the only SA cartoonist to work primarily in isiZulu. Born in Clermont near Durban, he began working for Umafrika, an ecumenical isiZulu newspaper, before joining Isolezwe in 2003. SIWELA (Themba Siwela) is a freelance artist and cartoonist who works from his home in KwaMashu, near Durban. He has produced editorial cartoons for The Mercury and Sowetan. STENT (Stacey Stent), SA’s only female political cartoonist, provided biting satire on leftwing politics for the Weekly Mail in the 1980s. After a long layoff, her caustic strips are back, in Noseweek. She lives in Cape Town. S FRANCIS & RICO (Stephen Francis and Enrico Schacherl) created Madam & Eve, SA’s most popular cartoon strip, in 1992. The strip is currently syndicated in 13 publications and has been converted into a TV series. This year’s Madam & Eve annual is entitled Strike while the Iron’s Hot. STIDY (Anthony Stidolph) was born in Salisbury (now Harare) but has long since made Pietermaritzburg his home and The Witness his workplace. He has published two collections of editorial cartoons and illustrated some 20 books. WEYNI DEYSEL learned his trade from the legendary Afrikaans cartoonist and comedian Len Lindeque and has worked for Rapport, Vaderland, the Sunday Times and The Citizen, amongst other publications. WIGGETT (Mark Wiggett) is a veteran freelancer whose cartoons have appeared in SA newspapers and magazines since the 1970s. He has produced editorial cartoons for The Herald (Eastern Cape) since 1995. He lives in Knysna. YALO (Sifiso Yalo) grew up in what was then the Transkei and began producing a weekly cartoon for Umafrika while still a student in Durban. He was employed by the short-lived Johannesburg daily, This Day, for a year before taking over Zapiro’s slot at the Sowetan. ZAPIRO (Jonathan Shapiro) began his career in the UDF paper, South, in the late 1980s. In 1994 he began drawing for the Sowetan and the Mail & Guardian, followed by the Sunday Times, and his work also appeared in the Cape Argus. After leaving the Sowetan, he joined the Independent Newspapers group. He recently began drawing for The Times. His latest annual is entitled Don’t Mess with the President’s Head.
THE CARTOONISTS
11/13/09 3:53:39 PM
Yalo, Sowetan, 08/06/09
TO BE CONTINUED... First published by Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd in 2009 10 Orange Street Sunnyside Auckland Park 2092 South Africa +2711 628 3200 www.jacana.co.za Š 2009. All cartoons in this book are the property of the respective cartoonists. Unauthorised use, in any form, print or digital, is prohibited. All cartoons used with permission. Selection by Andy Mason and John Curtis. The cooperation of participating cartoonists and publishers is gratefully acknowledged. Text: Andy Mason Timelines: John Curtis Front cover cartoon: Jeremy Nell Back cover cartoon: Dr Jack Design: Digital Jungle, Cape Town. DEDICATED TO THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AFRICAN CARTOONING All rights reserved. ISBN 978-1-77009-758-2
Printed by CTP Book Printers Job No. 001087 See a complete list of Jacana titles at www.jacana.co.za
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