CHAPTER TWO: BAUER AND CENSORSHIP
"DEREK BAUER'S WORLD": AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CARTOONIST AS ANARCHIST
Bauer's cartoons have been a regular feature in the Weekly Mail since October 1985. Apart from thumb-nail sketches of politicians and other prominent individuals, his cartoons have since the outset usually appeared on the letters page under the heading of "Derek Bauer's World".
The title emphasizes that the views expressed in the cartoons do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of the paper, but represent an individual viewpoint. This is despite the fact that the co-editor and cartoonist usually agree on a theme (104). Bauer is still given considerable license by the editors (105). Within the confines of his "world" the rules or ethics are determined largely by the cartoonist himself.
William Feaver articulates a view of cartooning and caricature as inherently irreverent when he writes that; "the right of [caricaturists] to insult at will [is] essential to the rude health of caricature." (106). Similarly Bauer speaks of "a beautiful truth in anarchy, in the overthrowing of the serious" (107). Bauer can be seen as fitting into what is generally perceived as the dominant tradition in political cartooning which for the purposes of this paper has been designated "anarchic" or "independent". The implications of this strategy for critical art practice will be discussed in the concluding chapter.
This chapter shall provide commentary on specific cartoons of Derek Bauer's which were published in the Weekly Mail and which comment directly on press, media and political censorship, or which raise issue's pertinent to a consideration of the critical function of cartooning. While it is inevitable that some analysis will accompany the interpretation of the cartoons, the main arguments will be more fully developed in the final chapter.
Many of Bauer's comments on censorship deal not only with press censorship, but more generally with the broader notion of political censorship. There are several cartoons however, which can be said to be directed at censorship of the media in particular.
Fig. 1
The earliest to comment directly on press censorship (Fig. 1) was published in December 1986 (108). In this cartoon a cylindrical bird cage is drawn off centre. It is shown to be tilted slightly, which can be read as representing the act of swinging slowly, or as suggesting a certain precariousness for the even moron precarious occupant of the cage. Bauer has not drawn the bird but rather he has cut out very roughly the shape or suggestion of a bird from an English newspaper article and added some ink to the newspaper. The birds one wing which has already been partially clipped extends beyond the confines of the cage and is in dangerously close proximity to a sharp pair of scissors (censorship), which is wielded by an (unseen) hand who takes instructions from an unseen senior. ("Ja, clip its wings... Just in case"). Descent, as opposed to ascent (flight) is evoked to the left of the cage through the use of line and stipple effects.
The cartoon is carefully composed, the contrast between the aesthetic qualities and the brutal content of the graphic communicates a sense of unease. The caged bird serves as a metaphor for the restricted press, its brutalised wings representing the violent nature of censorship.
A captionless and untitled Bauer cartoon published in April 1987 (109) visually represents the eradication of media freedom.
fig.2 Untitled Bauer cartoon published in April 1987
All that remains on this battlefield is tangled debris consisting of a smashed television set, a broken camera and cassette recorder, microphone, reels of tape and/or film. However while the first cartoon (fig. 1) is a bleak, if not outrightly pessimistic perspective on the future of a "free" press in South Africa this second cartoon contains elements of optimism. Rising out of this devastated landscape is a solitary hand clutching a quill pen. The pen extends beyond the picture frame and has been positioned by the editors so as to suggest that it is Bauer's own hand writing his name. The pen can be read as representing the resilience of journalism and/or cartooning despite the "onslaught" against the media.
In September 1987 Bauer produced a cartoon concerning censorship which commented on the absurdity of censorship by using humour (fig.3) (110). In this cartoon Bauer ridicules the government's attempts to silence the Weekly Mail and shows it as a response based on fear. The Government is represented by P.W. Botha. He is accompanied by the SABC. Botha, and to a lesser extent the SABC, display irrational responses verging on hysteria. (" Aaaaiiieeeeeeee It's. . i t 's . . The Weekly Mail"). Fear, panic and frustration are all implied by the several conflicting directions in which former State President P.W. Botha is fleeing, clutching his head, evidently not having anticipated the encounter with a Weekly Mail reader. Small touches, such as the two circular "eyes" above the SABC screen and the two eyes which are seen being disturbed -from reading the Weekly Mail, add to the enjoyment of the cartoon. Cartoons such as this one mock governments need to silence the press. The particular cabinet ministers in charge of en-forcing press and political restrictions would become favourite targets for cartoonists attacking state censorship, and would -frequently be subjected to humour being used in such a way as to ridicule their actions. Ironically, the use of humour, may contribute to their inability to react specifically against cartoons. Humorous cartoons, no matter how provocative, are always potentially "just joking" and society takes a dim view of those in power who prove lacking in humour.
Fig 3
fig.3 - In this cartoon Bauer ridicules the government's attempts to silence the Weekly Mail and shows it as a response based on fear
The entry and exit of Stoffel Botha
Former Minister of Home Affairs Stoffel Botha will be remembered as representative of a concerted attempt by the Nationalist Party government to curb press dissent. If he is remembered as an individual it will probably be due, in part at least, to the numerous cartoons in which he features. It would appear that Stoffel Botha was a fully developed -feature of Zapiro's iconography before Bauer began to represent him rather than the head of state (P.W. Botha) in cartoons commenting on press censorship.
The earliest appearance of Stoffel Botha in Bauer's cartoons in the Weekly Mail is at the end of April 1988 (Fig.4) (111). It is a less than dignified representation of Stoffel Botha as a hallucinating drug addict, his "fix" being censoring the alternative press. Before him lie used syringes labelled Work in Progress, South, New Nation and Grassroots. Botha pleads: "Please Please the Weekly Mail quick!". The singlemindedness of purpose of the addict / Botha counters any suggestion of openmindedness, the manic psychological state represented totally unsuited for cool, objective judgement. Bauer's familiar inkspot/blood analogy adds a violent character to the cartoon.
Fig.4
In October 1988 amidst the renewed threats directed at the Weekly Mail , and published a day before the paper was closed for a month, Stoffel Botha is represented as a masked executioner ( fig 5) (112). Stoffel Botha is portrayed as essentially bored and small-minded. He laments, "I'm lost! Washed-up forgotten..."
Fig 5
Fig. 6
Stoffel Botha reappears in January 1989 in a Bauer cartoon which was integrated into the newspaper with an article on censorship of the alternative press (113) rather than the customary "Derek Bauer's World". (fig.6)
"Don't say I didn't warn you" Botha quips. He stands smugly with his hands clasped behind his back, wearing a pin-stripe suit and skull and crossbones tie. Botha"s ears and portliness are exaggerated considerably, while his face is seen frontally, his belly is in profile and his legs are in three-quarter view. The resulting contortion suggests a shifty, mischievous character. The qualities usually associated with skull-and-crossbones such as death and destruction, danger and poison can all be associated with the condition of the wretched creature at his feet who represents the alternative press. This figure has suffered multiple stab wounds and appears to have been critically wounded. The weapons used are quill pens and paint-brushes, and the blood/inkspot analogy is again apparent.
Fig. 7
Stoffel Botha's sudden political retirement in May 1989 is less than flatteringly recorded by Bauer (fig.7) (114). With the words "Oh my.... it's the election" Botha flees into the distance. In small print Bauer adds, "on behalf of all cartoonists we mourn your departure ou Stoffel".
Fig. 8
The release of aged ANC and SACP leader Govan Mbeki in December 1987 after 23 years in jail (115) provided Bauer with an opportunity to represent the overlap between political and press censorship (fig.8 ) (116). Mbeki's movements and activities were severely restricted soon after his release. Not being allowed to speak to the press was only one such restriction.
In Bauer's cartoon a gagged Govan Mbeki is interviewed by unnamed journalist with a crooked tongue. "Mr. Mbeki sir...how do you feel about your release". There is a stark visual contrast between the two figures emphasized by both scale (Mbeki's head looms large), as well as graphic technique (Mbeki's features are cross-hatched, and hence more "realist" than the interviewer who is more schematic and distorted). In addition Mbeki is silent, effectively prevented from communicating. The interviewer who is clearly either insensitive or simply cruel, is closely observed by Mbeki.
Fig. 9
A cartoon published a month before the Mbeki cartoon (fig.9) (117) is a more general comment on censorship which can be interpreted on several levels. A blindfolded senior white male announces that "There are no political prisoners in South Africa".
On one level the cartoon can simply be read as representing the "cocoon" that many white South Africans choose to live in, in which case the man is simply expressing his ignorance. The man can however, also be taken to represent the government who were more inclined at the time to define political prisoners as "criminals" or "terrorists".
In addition the similarity between the composition and the "talking-head" format of television news is also difficult to ignore. The last two readings make the cartoon more than a comment on ignorance arising from censorship. The use of a blindfold visually undermines the authority of the speaker. The "official" position ("no political prisoners") is shown to be unfounded in reality. The cartoon then is also a comment on disinformation - what we are told (by the government or SABC) may not be truth, for that is plain to see.
Despite the possible interrelated readings which arise from the cartoon, it remains remarkably coherent, each reading adding to, rather than cluttering or confusing the cartoon.
Fig. 10
Bauer has dealt with political prisoners as a theme in the Weekly Mail since April 1986 (fig.10) (118). Play-Pen deals with imprisonment. The concept is probably developed from widely published accounts of youths, some of them still children, languishing in detention. Play-Pen clearly indicates an interest in representing emotional and psychological states of mind through visual means. Pain, anxiety, frustration, and resistance, are all signified through details such as the twisted head (which provides the focal point of the picture), the jail bars (which dissect the pictorial space), the clenched fists, Casspir, AK-47, and not least the naked light bulb (which it is suggested has been left on to prevent sleep).
Several of Bauer's cartoons which take political censorship as their concern are representations of the jailed leader of the then banned ANC, Nelson Mandela. Bauer's visual representations of Mandela are all the more interesting because of the fact that the government had banned photographs of him. The few "legal" photographs of Mandela were several decades old (119). Bauer would find ways of representing the issues concerning Mandela, rather than the man himself.
Fig. 11
The first of these (fig 11) (120) was published in September 1987 when Mandela's release was rumoured to be immanent. Mandela is represented as a weathered but dignified bird locked in a cage, behind him are the empty cages of released Russian "dissidents" Sakharov and Shcharansky, and to his side the open cage of the recently released Wynand Du Toit (121). Without resorting to slogans or captions Bauer communicates both the overdue release of Mandela, as well as the dignity and steadfastedness that characterized his years in prison. It is however, under the circumstances necessary for Bauer to name Mandela for the cartoon to have specific, as opposed to general comment.
Bauer would re-use birds and bird-cages as metaphors for imprisonment on the colour cover for the Christmas 1989 edition of the Weekly Mail (122) Recently released political prisoners (Rivonia trialists [Walter] Sisulu, [Ahmed] Kathrada, [Raymond] Mhlaba, Delmas Trialists [Popo] Molefe and ["Terror"] Lekota, and veteran trade unionist [Oscar] Mpetha) are represented as birds set free by state president F.W. De Klerk. A large agitated bird ["Nelson"], which has outgrown its cage, watches with its wings/hands on its hips.
Fig. 12
In July 1989 Bauer chose a different way to visually represent Mandela (fig.12.) (123). The cartoon refers specifically to press disclosures that P.W. Botha had tea with Mandela at Tuynhuis, the official residence of the State President. Neither Botha nor Mandela are named in the cartoon as the identity of the characters would be obvious to the readership.
Bauer tactfully avoids the difficulty of drawing someone he has never seen. A standing Mandela is represented from behind, wearing prisons uniform, his feet attached to a ball and chain.
He is present but silent, an anonymous statistic. Only his hands which stir the hot cup of tea define him in visual terms as Black.
Facing Mandela, but distanced by a table which has been placed slightly to the side towards the wall, Botha stands near the open door. In contrast to the difficulty of visually representing an unseen, unheard and unknown Mandela, Botha was at this point well developed in Bauer's iconography as a cartoon character. In this particular instance Botha's jaw is somewhere between his own and that of a crocodile or hippo. He is barefoot. "Look...be reasonable... try to put yourself in my shoes.'" Botha reasons with Mandela. The stark blackness seen through the door and window serves to visually contrast the world outside with that "inside" (prison).
Fig 13
Based on what little available visual information there existed at the time as to Mandela's physical appearance, Bauer dared a facial representation of Mandela in late January 1990 (fig. 13) (124). At this stage world pressure (particularly sanctions), was forcing the government to take note of political demands, such as the release of Mandela and political prisoners. It was even cynically suggested at the time that Mandela was of more use to the ANC in jail than out.
The Nationalist Party government, paralysed by the fear of losing the support of its traditional constituency, appeared unable to release Mandela. Bauer commented on this shift in the balance of political power by playing on the ambiguity between jailer and jailed. State President F.W. De Klerk is represented as a jailer. The difference in style of government between P.W. Botha and F.W. De Klerk means that representation of F.W. De Klerk is far more understated, and hence ambivalent, than his predecessor.
De Klerk reluctantly frees Mandela ("Okay.. .you 're free") but it is De Klerk that appears to be retreating into a cobweb laden prison cell, almost as if he is inviting Mandela to join him. As with the other representations of him, Mandela is silent. The silence of Mandela in these cartoons maintains the mystique that the government inadvertently cultivated around Mandela the prisoner.
Fig. 14
In June 1986 a cartoon of Bauer's, together with a considerable number of features, was on the advice of the Weekly Mail's lawyers restricted to comply with Emergency regulations (fig.14) (125). In August 1988 Bauer produced a cartoon representing the Minister of Defence Magnus Malan as a military tank (fig. 15) (126). Malan accuses the End Conscription Campaign; "You are the vanguard of those forces that are intent on wrecking the present dispensation and its renewal". "Who? Me?" questions the small figure representing the ECC. This cartoon, read in conjunction with specific articles concerning military conscription, contributed to the government's decision to remove the Weekly Mail from circulation. (127)
But censorship does not begin with government prosecution or action but with self--censorship. Bauer has stated that he "[doesn't'] want to drop the Weekly Mail in shit" (128). The Weekly Mail has censored Bauer on several occasions for two very different reasons; legal and political.
Fig. 16
Firstly as in the restricted cartoon of June 1986, the Weekly Mail is essentially protecting itself from government prosecution. Another example of the Weekly Mail applying censorship for legal purposes can be seen in a cartoon of August 1987 (fig. 16) (129). This cartoon was produced in response to the departure of Cape Times editor Tony Heard. Hoard's departure was seen at the time as a politically motivated act engineered by his employers under government pressure (130). In the original cartoon submitted by Bauer for publication the central figure who represents the Managing Director of Times Media Ltd. (the newspaper company which owns the Cape Times ), Gordon Mulholland, contained a speech bubble which read: "I love the smell of blood in the morning", which is a reference to the film Apocalypse Now. At the bottom of cartoon was a caption: "In memoriam Tony Heard" (131). The Weekly Mail fearing being prosecuted by Mulholland, probably for public defamation (132), erased the speech bubble and replaced the caption with another: "Cape Times: The sickle is mightier than the pen".
The result of the editorial intervention, albeit justified on legal grounds, means that the precise content is obfuscated. Not many people are familiar enough with Mulholland to recognize him as the figure cutting down a wheatfield of writers (represented by the hand and quill-pen motif). The reference to the Cape Times in the caption, rather than clarify the cartoon's content, confuses it. In trying to interpret the published version reader may be forgiven for mistaking Mulholland for Heard, any resulting interpretation likely to be unclear.
Fig. 17
A second example of censorship practiced by the Weekly Mail is motivated by political rather than legal considerations. One such example was published in December 1985 (fig. 17) (133). Opposed to economic sanctions as a method for exercising pressure on government Bauer represented Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an advocate of sanctions, in prayer; "find God...while you're at it...help us starve the bastards out!" The anti-sanctions content of the cartoon clearly did not reflect the position of the editors or of many of the readership, and the editors intervened with letraset. "Bishop Desmond Tutu as seen nightly on SATV" has been inserted in an attempt to alter the content of the cartoon. The published version becomes a comment on the representation of Tutu by SABC (here designated by the general term "SATV"), rather than as an anti-sanctions cartoon.
