Tough times call for tough cartoons, says Zapiro on 'Gigaba Vaseline' drawing

08 June 2017 - 12:47
By Kgothatso Madisa

"Tough times call for tough cartoons," this is Zapiro's response to the outrage caused by his recent 'Gigaba Vaseline' cartoon.

Zapiro's , real name Jonathan Shapiro, cartoon that appeared on the Daily Maverick uses a Vaseline metaphor to show how Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba is allowing easy access into the Treasury.

The Vaseline, which has Gigaba's face on the lid reads:

Lubricates State Deals:

- Oils multi-departmental penetration

- Back entry for fronts

It goes on to read: Eases Treasury Entry. Side Effect: Leaks.

Gigaba Vaseline - Zapiro

This is the OFFICIAL and only site of ZAPIRO aka Jonathan Shapiro. Copyright © 2017 .

Zapiro has received a lot of flak on social media with one Twitter user @Mr_Hlongwane saying: "where are #hellenzille cartoons? Or is it only funny when u embarass black leaders? Gigaba will sort out our currency"

@MrPhamodi tweeted: Our favourite creatively bankrupt douchebro, @zapiro, still resorting to same rape metaphor, only now peppered with a dash of homoantagonism."

In response to questions by SowetanLIVE, Shapiro simply said: "Tough times call for tough cartoons."

Shapiro has met with a lot of criticism for using rape metaphor's in his cartoons.

The Women’s Legal Centre as well as people on social media expressed shock at a  cartoon where he depicted President Jacob Zuma handing a rape victim draped in the South African flag to  one of the Gupta brothers.

At the time, Shapiro said that he‚ like so many other artists‚ had become “desperate to find ways to make a strong statement” about the current situation in the country.

- Additional reporting by TMG Digital.