In Jacob Zuma’s South Africa, a documentary on
political satire was, for the second time, cancelled. We reported previously
that the program had aired on May 25, but that, it seems, was only the scheduled
broadcast date; it didn’t actually happen. 
But the program was posted
on the Mail & Guardian’s website
on Wednesday, May 27, and had been downloaded 3,500 times in the next 24 hours,
according to a report at iol.co.za. "It's almost brought the site down due
to the number of hits we're getting,” said the technical manager for M&G
Online, Jason Norwood-Young. The documentary features interviews with the now
legendary Zapiro, the pen-name of
cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, and Jesse Duarte,
spokesman for the African National Congress, Zuma’s party. “Perhaps most
significantly, it shows a Zapiro cartoon of ANC president Jacob Zuma — before he
became president of South Africa — about to rape a depiction of Lady Justice
while she is held down by his political allies. That cartoon unleashed a storm
of controversy at the time of its publication, as Zuma was involved in a court
bid to have his corruption charges dropped.” Zuma, contending that the cartoon
attacks his dignity, is suing Zapiro for libel. The tv channel, South African
Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), state operated, is now widely supposed to be
under the thumb of the ANC and Zuma.
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