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South Africa’s ANC government is currently considering amending the country's constitution to accommodate Jacob Zuma, their legally embattled party president, so that he would not have to stand trial prior or during his likely presidency after the April 2009 elections. Zapiro, South Africa's most famous political cartoonist, has been locked in public & legal battle with Jacob Zuma over his consistent depiction of Zuma with a shower head attached to his head - a reference to evidence Jacob Zuma gave during his rape trial - & more recently a cartoon depicting Zuma about to rape Lady Justice with the help of various political figures - a reference to his intention of avoiding justice by manipulating the constitution itself. Zuma is currently threatening to sue Zapiro for millions. This attack on Zapiro arguably constitutes the biggest attack on free speech in South Africa since the end of Apartheid. Zapiro himself tells the story of how Nelson Mandela, who has also seen the short end of Zapiro's brush, personally phoned him to thank him for playing an important role in the democratic health of the county. The shower head Zapiro holds in the accompanying image, has for many become a symbol for Jacob Zuma as a direct result of Zapiro's scathing cartoons. Zapiro has become the canary in the coal mine for freedom of speech in South Africa.

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Zapiro, Jacob Zuma & Freedom of Speech in South Africa

by Peter-John Freeman in South Africa on 22/02/2009

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