SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: February 14, 2022] End of Part One
I’m not sure what the Part One is that this title refers to. This book picks up where the last one left off and moves on into 1998.
It’s clear that Zapiro is still bitter about the Olympics, as the first cartoon is “For the first time the I.O.C. has awarded the Olympic Games to an African City” (the toon is dated 3004 A.D.
At some point it was imperative that I learn all of the political abbreviations. And he has a good cartoon that summarizes them:
1959: ANC is a large tree
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. It has been in power since the election of lawyer, activist and former political prisoner Nelson Mandela at the first free and fair elections in 1994, and has been re-elected at every election since, though with a reduced majority every time since 2004. Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent President of South Africa, has served as President of the ANC since 18 December 2017.
1959: PAC broke off from the ANC
The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) is a political party whose presence in the South African political landscape spans just over half a century. The PAC’s origins came about as result of the lack of consensus on the Africanist debate within the African National Congress (ANC). When the Freedom Charter was adopted at Kilptown in 1955, those who championed the Africanist ideological stance felt that this was a betrayal of the struggle.
1978: AZAPO branch breaks off from PAC
The Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO) is a South African political party and a former liberation movement. The organisation’s two student wings are the Azanian Students’ Movement (AZASM) for high school learners and the other being for university level students called the Azanian Students’ Convention (AZASCO), its women’s wing is Imbeleko Women’s Organisation, simply known as IMBELEKO. Its inspiration is drawn from the Black Consciousness Movement philosophies developed by Steve Biko, Abram Onkgopotse Tiro and Vuyelwa Mashalaba, as well as Marxist Scientific Socialism.
1997: Strini Moodley picked up a splintered branch and said that he spoke for the people
Strinivasa Rajoo “Strini” Moodley was a founding member of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. In 1976, he was convicted of terrorism in a trial involving members of the South African Students’ Organisation and the Black People’s Convention
Moving outside of Africa (well, technically not) It was rumored that Michael Jackson might be settling in South Africa, The drawing of Michael has him saying “Great country. No one’s mentioned paedophilia.”
This book shows Zapiro doing some parody work as well (and his skill is AMAZING). He does an excellent Spy vs Spy, an excellent Peanuts (ripping away blanket amnesty) and several Tintin parodies…
The Tintin parodies come up with President Clinton, who really does take up a lot of space in this book (unlike the other two). First its him not signing the anti-personnel landmine treaty (did we really not?) while about to step on the landmine of world opinion.
But this book is about South Africa. The country was still trying to work through the apartheid situation. We see a therapist telling all of the perpetrators of apartheid that they too were victims of it: “I killed for apartheid, now I suffer from post traumatic stress.” “I killed and tortured, now everyone hates me.” “And I hate myself.”
“Transformation” takes the country as a truckload of transformation barrels over white privilege. Also, Mandela parts the seas while the Little White Side Show has the DP and NP fighting each other like Punch and Judy.
Although he shows how little things have changed:
Africa Then: The west has a black man in a chain that says slavery.
Africa Now: The West has a black man in a chain that says “Debt.”
Zapiro is still after the voters for being suckered by tricks. The NP government trying to snake charm them with what is actually noose (that’s a good one).
In all three books he’s had comments about higher education. I don’t really know too much about what was going on in the universities there, but this cartoon sums it up pretty well
Son: “Ethics in the country are going down the tubes.”
Dad: “I’m glad it concerns you son.”
Son: “I’m trying to buy the maths papers and this crook tried to sell me a fake!”
Apparently there was also a problem with prison breaks. With a guard saying to the inmates: “there will be a prison break tomorrow. Meet at 11AM. Bring cash.”
Winnie Mandela has now been put under investigation by the TRC with her Mandela United football Club (I can’t BELIEVE the things she did!).
And then we move back to the U.S. because the Monica Lewinski scandal has captured the world. Clinton says this scandal looks pretty and can anyone tell me how to bounce back from a seemingly impossible predicament (cut to Winnie Mandela).
Then later comes The Clinton Awards: Good Bill Hunting (into a door marked interns); The Full Monica (a naked woman); As Good as It Gets (a remarkably racy cartoon behind a desk) and Titanic (Clinton’s sinking credibility).
And finally when the world’s cameras are on Clinton’s pants, he unzips and lets out a rocket that says “Nuke any old Muslim target.”
There’s also some really powerful cartoons that actually work for so many countries.
The No Tobacco Day cartoon is another great one. In this one, a tobacco industry man makes a confession: I killed one in every two people who use my services. I’m rich so I hired crooked experts to lie to the public.
In the criminal justice system, in this case apartheid. Apartheid operatives carry out one last assassination: two white guys in shirts and ties, with blood on their shirts have just killed a black man labelled “the truth.”
The Truth and Reconciliation committee looks at PW Botha. They say he is unfit to stand trial. But Zapiro has both a before stroke and after stroke panel in both he suffers from “tendency to hallucinate, paranoia, emotional instability, and inability to tell right from wrong.”
And then this one, which is sadly still so truthful.
Long sentence for Blacks who Kill Whites (a guy in a cell with hundreds of days notched off).
Compared to Long sentence for whites who kill blacks: “Excuse me sir, just some formalities we won’t arrest you of course, but you’ll have to make a court appearance in a few days’ time and bring some cash you’ll probably get off with a small fine, so sorry to trouble you and enjoy your long weekend with your family.
Netanyahu is skewered again. He says he has learned some words in Arabic: “No compromise.”
In other global news. When India exploded a nuclear bomb, Gandhi says to them find yourselves another guru.
Zapiro’s Believe It or Not is a great strip about what the Apartheid government was looking into doing (and maybe even did).
Sealed products laced with poison; booby trapped washing machine powder; plot to slowly poison Mandela before his release; baboons masturbated in experiments aimed at reducing birth rate of blacks; and bacteria made to kill blacks only.
Astonishing.
But there are some happy moments for Mandela as we see his fourscore celebration ending in “achievement.” There’s also Nelson Mandela The Early Years. In school, the blackboard says “what will I be one day?” About Mandela: “this one can’t make up his mind: lawyer, activist freedom fighter, prisoner of conscience, president reconciler, nation builder, visionary and 20th century icon.”
And then there’s the shocking reality that at the end of July 1998 the TRC’s mandate was ended and many people were never tried. You can see al the ones that got away
The book ends with an attack on Robert Mugabe.
Robert Gabriel Mugabe was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017
1980-2017! He had obviously made his opinion we;; known in Zimbabwe by now. In a simple cartoon, Mandela puts a fire out while Mugabe douses it with petrol. And, in a final cartoon, Mugabe hosted a peace conference (metaphorically on a ship) which, two days later failed and went over the falls.
Man, it’s like reliving the recent past. I wonder what happened next.
You can see more of his cartoons at https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/zapiro and at www.zapiro.com.
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