Shortly before the publication of this issue, I was invited to Zapiro's book launch. Much to my surprise he was introduced by Loyiso Gola, a South African comedian. I was surprised because the previous week a Zapiro cartoon was published by the Mail & Guardian which showed Julius Malema as a rat: in an adaptation of the Pied Piper of Hamlin the rat, under the pretext of an Economic Freedom March, (mis)leads a mass of black people blindly following power and wealth.
Gola promptly tweeted that Zapiro was losing touch with reality. We had the privilege to interview Zapiro and see for ourselves that he did not treat this criticism lightly. On the contrary. Jonathan Shapiro (aka Zapiro) is a person who takes criticism to heart and faces up to it. His answer to Gola was a caricature of himself: Zapiro on the couch of a psychoanalyst, berating himself about whether he is capable of maintaining the balance and mirror the country’s politics in a spirited way without polarising. There he was blasting himself even though his cartoons definitely seem to find that balance. Thus it was even more of a blessing to witness, at the book launch, what Zapiro’s cartoons can bring to pass: debating, peacefully and intellectually, the differences of opinion between the white person who comes from a privileged background and the intellectual black person who understands the demonstrating masses – and in fact marched with them to vent his discontent with the situation in which countless black graduates cannot find employment and have no share in South Africa’s economic growth.
February to April 2012
The Old Mutual Summer Sunset Concerts take place at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden (Rhodes Avenue, Newlands, Cape Town) on Sundays from 17h00 – 19h00. For classical music lovers the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra lends a tranquil note on 26 February. Ever popular and always crowd pullers, the Blues Broers featuring Albert Frost appear on 4 March followed by one of the hot Kirstenbosch favourites Goldfish on 11 March.
Don’t miss one of the highlights of the season when Freshlyground give it their all on 18 March. The penultimate concert on 25 March features that legendary musician Hugh Masekela - making his first appearance at Kirstenbosch and sure to delight both young and old. Not an April Fool is the lineup for 1 April of Hot Water and Wrestlerish but two groups sure to get your toes tapping as the Old Mutual Summer Sunset concerts close in style.
