Cartoon Slideshow: A Painting Causes an Uproar in South Africa

Marco Werman speaks with The World’s Cartoon Editor Carol Hills about the emotional and historical buttons pushed by a satirical painting of President Jacob Zuma. “The Spear” by Brett Murray had South Africans fuming and counter-fuming for three weeks until it was taken down on May 30th by a Capetown gallery.

The painting that launched a thousand political cartoons in South Africa is called “The Spear”.

It’s by a South African satirical artist named Brett Murray but President Jacob Zuma found nothing funny about it.

Three weeks of protest marches, boycotts, counter-protests, editorials, finger-wagging, and sober discussion about the role of free speech in the New South Africa have followed the painting, which was hanging in a Capetown gallery until May 30th.

It’s now down but you can see some of the cartoons it inspired in this slideshow by The World’s Carol Hills.