CHAPTER THREE: ZAPIRO AND CENSORSHIP
INTRODUCTION TO THE CARTOONIST AS POLITICAL ACTIVIST
Zapiro's cartoons discussed in this paper were produced within a shorter period than the Bauer's discussed in the previous chapter. Most of them were published in South between March 1991 and February 1988.
Zapiro differs from the tradition of political cartoonist as anarchist. His cartooning grew out of his political activism producing media for organisations such as the UDF and ECC. If Zapiro's position has precedents in the history of satirical graphics, it is closer to explicit party political propaganda (much of which is historically anonymous or collective), or to a tradition of caricature as rooted in morality (135). The implications of political alignment for critical art practice will be discussed more fully in the final chapter.
This chapter will examine specific cartoons which comment directly on media censorship, as well as cartoons exposing or countering disinformation, and cartoons which have been censored.
Cartoons commenting directly on media censorship can be broken into two different groupings: cartoons commenting on the restriction of news on SABC; and cartoons which are specifically concerned with press censorship.
Fig. 18
Zapiro produced two cartoons in September 1987 which represent the government's control of the SABC, in particular its control over the news. In the first cartoon (fig. 18) (136) P.W. Botha's hand crosses the television screen and throttles Riaan Eksteen, the Director General of the SABC, who informs us: 'We [the SABC] are (glug) looking into (ug) measures to tighten up (skxx) procedures in the (gurk) flow of (urk) news..." Eksteen's head extends beyond the confines of the television screen and picture frame, and appears ready to burst. His tie extends to the front of the picture plane. The tie is patterned with small representations based on the logo for His Masters voice, except that the dog listening to the gramophone appears to be expressing varying degrees of amazement to the recording. In contrast to the violence represented on the screen, the depiction of the control switches to the side is relatively objective as in a technical diagram.
Fig. 19
In the second cartoon (fig.19) (137) the concept is similar to the first. P.W. Botha is again represented as the final arbitrator for the news. This time, instead of the Director General of the SABC, we see a white male newsreader. The television is positioned in Botha's mouth. "Good evening. Here is the ... (glug).. . news...". The implications are that what is permissable to broadcast (or publish) has to have government approval (or be swallowed or eaten), and also that the SABC is little more than the vocal chords of the government.
Stoffel Botha and the return of the Dark Ages
All of Zapiro's cartoons which are specifically directed at press censorship invariably involve Stoffel Botha, and were prompted by the increased powers given to Botha in order to combat the "unconventional revolution supporting press" (138).
In two of the four cartoons representing Stoffel Botha as the agent of government censorship, he is represented as a servant of P.W. Botha, and in the remaining two he is seen performing his task as an executioner (censor). All the cartoons are set in a medieval context, which, as will be discussed later, may have implications for avoiding censorship. The medieval context could, in the popular imagination, be associated with the notion of "Dark Ages", which would be an appropriate metaphor for an era characterized by oppression and censorship rather than enlightenment.
Fig.20
The Emperor's New Clothes ( fig. 20) (139), a reworking of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy-tale, is the first of the series, and was first published in August 1987 (140). The two Bothas are both present. P.W. Botha, depicted naked except for his crown, state president's sash and medallion, and glasses. He orders Stoffel Botha to "charge" the alternative press ("Stoffel, charge him with spreading blatant distortions and miserable lies! ").
The alternative press is represented as an unassuming, almost Robin Hood-type character (but without crossbow). He wears a press-card in his hat, and is positioned on the left of the cartoon. He is busy recording what he sees with a feather on a scroll. He asks "Why is the emperor wearing no clothes?"
Stoffel Botha is dressed as a medieval knight but with a dunce's cap on his head. He is shown responding to his master's order -"charging" the alternative press with a halberd.
Grovelling in the bottom right hand corner of the cartoon are three disreputable characters. One of them holds a video camera labelled SABC "0 Master, your attire is perfect! Who is the royal tailor?" The other two, who are visually similar if not identical, are crouched submissively on the ground. (" Oh your Highness, what a lovely outfit!" and "Beautiful clothes, your Excellency"). They wear press cards in their hats ("Press" and "Pers") and represent the commercial press, both English and Afrikaans.
Fig. 21
Stoffel Botha appears for the first time as an executioner in September 1987 ( fig 21) (141). The Friendly Executioner accompanied an editorial article (142). He is represented as a masked, bare-chested executioner holding a double-edged axe ready to decapitate his next victim. The victim is a blindfolded, spindly-limbed creature, with his hands tied behind his back. Although the victim ostensibly represents the press in general (there is a card indicating "press" in his hat) the cartoon, due to the context of its publication (ie. in South in a climate of press repression which was mainly directed at the alternative press), also reads as a comment on official attempts to curb the alternative press in particular. The fact that the "press" here is represented in identical clothing to the figure representing the alternative press in fig 20 as well as in the figures in the following cartoon ( fig.22.) reinforces this more narrow interpretation of the cartoon. The bloodstains of previous victims are clearly evident on the execution block, suggesting a series of executions.
Fig. 22
Botha's speech bubble is in sharp contrast to widely held views concerning the arbitrary character of censorship (143). It reads: "My friend, you will be happy to know that with the help of our panel of objective experts, everything is being done in as scientific a manner as possible. . . ". Positioned in a Punch and Judy set are three overweight, middle-aged, white men. They are named in the cartoon as a "Panel of experts provided by the directorate of media relations". The "puppets" unanimously pronounce the alleged offender guilty.
In "Dom Duiwels" published in Grassroots in April 1988 ( fig.22), Zapiro once again likens the act of censorship to the act of execution by decapitation. Stoffel Botha returns as the masked executioner, wiping the blood off his axe as the blindfolded head of his victim (New Nation presscard in medieval hat) leaves its body and bounces violently out of the picture frame. A queue of similarly dressed and blindfolded journalists (representing the Weekly Mail, Grassroots, Out of Step, Saamstaan, WIP and South respectively) await a similar fate. ("Dom Duiwels ' all you had to do was to stop telling the truth...Next! ")
Fig. 23
A less grim representation of press censorship was published in a Save the Press Campaign pamphlet in June 1988. ( fig.23) "P .W. Quixote and Sancho Stoffel" is a re-working of Miguel Cervantes' Don Quixote. In this instance the use of a literary setting is particularly interesting, given that publication (and hence writing itself) is under attack. Stoffel Botha is likened to Don Quixote's uneducated and obedient servant (Sancho Panza). Based on a scene in the original version "P.W. Quixote" informs "Sancho Stoffel" that the windmills on the horizon (which are cut out of newspaper and named Grassroots, Weekly Mail and Saamstaan) , are demons - "Look Sancho... More evil demons.'". "Sancho" is armed with an axe and ready to respond immediately ("Iole ' Let's get ' em! "). Behind them are crosses cut from newspaper and named after the newspapers (New Nation and South) which had been temporarily banned by Stoffel Botha. (144)
Several of Zapiro's cartoons are concerned with disinformation. They tend to deal with the subject in two ways. Firstly by exposing disinformation, and secondly by countering it.
Fig. 24
Spook Stories (fig.24) (145), which was published in April 1987, communicates the concept of disinformation in unambiguous terms. Zapiro uses the idea of a "bed-time story" (albeit a "spook-story" intended to frighten the children in the cartoon) to achieve this end. The ANC is represented by South African Minister of Foreign Affairs Pik Botha as a communist demon about to attack its (presumably innocent) sleeping victims. The different responses of the terrified white children and the young black child who is clearly neither misled nor amused by what he is hearing, communicates in simple terms the fact that the image of the ANC portrayed by the government is grossly distorted.
Fig. 25
A second example of exposing disinformation adopts a similar tactic to fig.9 where the visual image contradicts the caption (fig.25) (146). This cartoon, published in October 1987, refers to widespread allegations about the collusion of the security forces with vigilante forces against the "comrades" in squatter settlements in the western Cape.
The caption is particularly lengthy and occupies considerable space in the graphic. It reads: "The allegation that the S.A.D.F. -is currying favour with certain squatter leaders in order to win support for the new town councils and to install conservative puppets as councilors is devoid of truth and thus not worth commenting on."
The drawing, despite the seriousness of the subject, is humorously treated. A vigilante, cigar in mouth and wearing the white headband that identified the vigilantes, and for which they were known as witdoeke, is welcomed to "the operational area" by the SADF. The door to the (presumably "official") car which has transported him is opened for him, and a hastily unrolled carpet, presumably red, has been provided.
Both cartoons discussed above are clearly concerned with exposing disinformation, either by questioning the authority of the "story-teller" (fig.24), or by boldly contrasting what is represented visually against what we are ("officially") told (fig.25). By making processes of disinformation visible, both cartoons provide "alternative" readings of events.
Fig. 26
Developing alternative readings of events can be seen as an attempt to counter disinformation by presenting viewpoints, which in the cartoonist's view, are closer to the "truth". This is particularly evident in a cartoon published in June 1987 which deals with what the government and the media usually choose to call "black-on-black violence" (fig.26) (147).
Lying dead on the ground are two political activists. They are presented with equal visual emphasis. The one is named as a member or supporter of the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO), the other as a member or supporter of the UDF. To the right of the cartoon, a black, balaclava-clad, hired killer dressed in black, gun still smoking in his right hand, is paid for his deed. The hand that pays him is white and the sleeve indicates a striped jacket or suit.
The intention of the cartoon is to explain, in as concise a manner as possible, the methods used by the government in order to "divide and rule". While editorial censorship, as we shall see below, has created a certain ambiguity as to the identity of the "pay-master", the cartoon succeeds in countering disinformation by providing an alternative narrative.
Zapiro's political position was sufficiently close to that of South's to not have to contend with political censorship from the editorial staff. There would however be much contention between cartoonist and editors concerning the limits to which cartooning could be pushed in order to survive legal censorship (148)
As indicated above, fig 26 has been subjected to censorship. In the original version the pay-masters hand has been identified as that of the South African Police (SAP). The editors, presumably acting on legal advice, cropped the printed cartoon so that the alleged culprit remains unnamed in the published version.
Fig. 27
One cartoon that's caption was changed by the editors was published in September 19S7 ( fig.27) (149). In the published version, an overweight, moustachioed, bespectacled secretary to the State President calls into P.W. Botha's office: "It's for you, Sir...It's the people of South Africa...They also want to do a swop - and your name has been mentioned". In his left hand he clutches a newspaper named by Zapiro as Daily Grovel. The headline reads "Big prisoner swop today!" and refers to a prisoner swop arranged between the South African, Angolan, French and Dutch authorities (150). In smaller print the newspaper reads "Now free Mandela". The pre-editorial letraset version read: "You [P.W. Botha] for Mr. Mandela" where "and your name has been mentioned" has been inserted. Once again, fear of government censorship has resulted in the bluntening of the explicit content of specific cartoons. (151)
A cartoon of Zapiro's which has the distinction of being one of the few cartoons to be officially banned for distribution and possession, was issued as a calendar for 1987 by the UDF in the Western Cape (152). The exhibition at which the original copy was first shown was titled About Time - Images of South Africa. It formed the visual arts component of the Towards a Peoples Culture festival. Hours before the exhibition opened the entire festival was banned. The authorship of the full-coloured pen and ink and wash drawing is in itself censored (153).
The image itself is a joyous representation of the South African Police (SAP) and Defence Force (SADF) attempting to impose "order" on a vibrant township. The strength of the cartoon lies in its humorous and detailed representation of numerous concurrent events, as well as in its references to specific individuals and types of person. Apart from luminaries such as UDF patrons Archbishop Tutu and Alan Boesak, numerous western Cape activists can be recognised. (154)
Although precise reasons for censorship are often unclear, Zapiro himself not knowing to what extent, if any, his cartooning practice was responsible for his detention (155), in this instance it is tempting to believe that any consideration of the publication as "subversive" or "undesirable" must have been motivated not only because of the fun that is made of the SAP and SADF in the cartoon, but also because of the joy and optimism which is expressed.
