JZ: Spearhead a call to action

Published Oct 16, 2015

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Forget his policies, his polygamous practices, or his often inarticulate proclamations that leave even his fellow party members scratching their heads in bewilderment. Such matters are of little consequence when faced with the all-important topic of our president’s penis.

Yes, JZ’s spear is once again standing front and centre on digital news pages across the country, thanks to his old artistic nemesis, Ayanda Mabulu. Titled Spear Down My Throat (The Pornography of Power), Mabulu’s latest composition offers his take on the current state of the nation, as headed by our numero uno citizen.

Which is to say, it depicts Zuma in full fellatio mode, while the distinctly destitute black girl performing the act is being simultaneously penetrated from behind, by a personified hyena in Victorian colonial-style clothing.

If that subtle metaphor is lost on you, the meaning, in Mabulu’s own words is that: “I feel like the country is being turned into a slut and this young democracy of ours is being molested in many ways and raped continuously… The promises of 1994 are nothing but a distant fading memory… The woman represents our country and all that she has to endure under this leadership.”

To say the painting has stirred controversy would be something akin to stating the Japanese were bothered at having the first atomic bombs dropped on them during World War II.

While some have hailed Mabulu’s daring in having the courage to voice what so many feel, but are too afraid to articulate for fear of being branded a racist/ anarchist/unpatriotic/traitorous/ insert disparaging label here, others have, predictably, decried what they perceive to be an assault on the president’s honour, or even Mabulu’s stripping “black African women of dignity and made a mockery of rape… in (your) quest to make your point”.

Methinks, however, said naysayers have rather missed the point entirely. Forgetting for a moment that the work (as with most art) is meant to be interpreted allegorically, not literally, the reality of our country’s current condition would leave the much-mentioned Struggle heroes rolling in their graves:

We have the highest rape per capita incident in the world. Of these, children make up 41% of victims. Of the 41%, 15% are reported to be under the age of 11, with welfare groups of the view that the actual figures are likely 10 times as much, considering many cases go unreported. One in 10 South Africans are HIV positive. Our murder rate sits at the 33 in 100 000 mark. The global average is 6.2. As much as 21.5% of the population live below the poverty line.

We also hold the dubious honour of having one of the highest global unemployment rates, which probably isn’t helped by an increasingly ineffectual education system that, earlier this year, saw us being ranked worst in the world in terms of the quality of our science and mathematics education in particular, and “finishing close to last – 139 out of 143 countries” overall.

And that’s not even to speak of our decrepit economy, corruption-without-consequences on a tsunami scale, the plundering of our resources by those with the proverbial power to pay, or nefarious deeds like Marikana and Nkandla.

Meanwhile, JZ and his administration simply laugh it off. Where is the honour in that? And what of our right, as ordinary citizens, to have our “inherent dignity”, to have our homes, our livelihood – our lives! – respected and protected, as outlined in the same Constitution critics of The Pornography of Power are so quick to call on?

In Mabulu’s own words: “We can’t keep polishing the image of Mandela’s corpse…”

And though he might have been framing the plight of black people in particular, these are realities that touch all civilians across the colour spectrum, to greater or lesser degrees. So now the question is, Mr President, are you finally going to do something about it?

LARA De MATOS

[email protected]

@Lara_de_Matos

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