Zapiro Zapiro – författare

No little thorn in the flesh or irritating fly in the ointment, Zapiro just cannot be ignored. It’s been another helluva year, and who better to make sense of it than Zapiro, political analyst, cartoonist and agent provocateur. He has the ability to knock the air out of us, to rock us back in our seats, to force us bolt upright with a 1000-watt jolt of electrifying shock. He makes us angry, he makes us laugh and he makes us think. He shines a light on the elephant in the room, presents the emperor in all his naked glory. Impossible to brush off, he is determined to provoke a response. When all around is crumbling, when fake news and zipped lips conceal the truth, Zapiro comes to the rescue. With the dissecting eye of a surgeon, the rapier-like point of his pen exposes flimflam, and reveals with a line what lies behind the action.

In Zapiro's 20th annual he skewers another momentous year including the drama over Rhodes and other statues, # Nkandla Pay Back the Money, spy cables, NPA shenanigans, Eskom and parastatal paralysis, union disunity, Charlie Hebdo, xenophobia, Juju's boiler suit brigade, Godzille's successor, cockroaches, Verwoerd's ghost and other political creatures.

Zapiro comes of age in this 21st annual. Zuma once again takes centre stage for all the wrong reasons along with his cronies the Guptas and his nemesis Malema. It’s the year of the hashtag. #RhodesMustFall begat #FeesMustFall, also #Racism/#Sexism and #ZumaMustFall. With Nenegate and SARS wars, it’s the rand that’s really falling. Meanwhile, Pravin and Thuli fight the good fight. Each cartoon is worth a thousand words and helps us make sense of our crazy, beautiful country where fact is indeed stranger than fiction.

No little thorn in the flesh or irritating fly in the ointment, Zapiro just cannot be ignored. It's been one helluva year. We've held our breath thinking Zuma may resign. We've seen Juju re-booted and Zille tweeted out. We've seen Trump's megalomania, Bell Pottinger's spin and Pravin's fightback, cadres captured and Cabinet's relocation to Saxonwold Shebeen. GuptaLeaks threaten to drown us and as the flood rises the rodents scatter. And who better to make sense of this than Zapiro, political analyst, cartoonist and agent provocateur. He has the ability to knock the air out of us, to rock us back in our seats, to force us bolt upright with a 1000-watt jolt of electrifying shock. He shines a light on the elephant in the room, presents the emperor in all his naked glory. When all around is crumbling, when fake news and zipped lips conceal the truth, Zapiro comes to the rescue.

WTF is renowned cartoonist Zapiro's account of the Zuma years in 400 brilliant cartoons and the stories behind them. It is much more than a collection of cartoons, it's also a definitive personal record from a man uniquely positioned to reflect the serious craziness and the crazy seriousness of this bewildering time in our history. Zapiro's career has been tightly entwined with the tale of Jacob Zuma for more than twenty years. He has sharply charted his rise and fall, and everything in between, including the corrupting presence of the Guptas and the destructive cancer of state capture. And he created the iconic showerhead which has become a nationally known symbol of Zuma.WTF recounts the many times the cartoonist was threated by senior political figures because of his caustic and brilliant work, as well as the two lawsuits totaling R22m he was served with by Zuma. Zapiro's cartoons stand as an essential, bitter-sweet testimonial which captures Jacob Zuma and the wild ride he took the nation on. It also reflects and explains the significant presence Zuma still has in our politics.