Cape Town - Bethuel Mangena, a cartoonist at African News Agency, was announced on Monday as one of the winners in the Third International Cartoon Contest.
The call for the competition was published internationally in the first days of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran.
Organisers said the call was met with great enthusiasm by artists from all around the world.
In the competition, cartoonists from various countries presented their work, which was selected for the virtual gallery and final judging.
Mangena’s entry was among submissions from 120 countries, with over 8 000 cartoons that were presented. He is the only African cartoonist among the 20 winners.
His winning cartoon took the Human Rights title. He said that he felt both blessed and humbled.
“It is every artist's dream to see their work recognised internationally. I just never thought in my wildest dreams that one day I will find myself competing with thousands of cartoonists from all over the world and make it as one of the winners,” Mangena said.
He admitted that it has been a long, difficult journey, but it was awards like this that made him wake up in the morning and continue giving his best.
ANA syndication chief content officer, Lance Witten, said he was incredibly proud of the work Mangena managed to deliver on a daily basis.
“I can't imagine how difficult it must be to maintain razor-sharp wit, artistic skill, acute awareness of what's making news headlines and the intuitive cognizance to be able to tap into the psyche of people experiencing news events; a set of skills so critical to being a satirist.
“Mangena speaks for the voiceless, sometimes in subtle tones, sometimes straight up flipping the bird, and I love him for it,” Witten added.
Witten said this award and recognition of his skill was testimony to the hours of effort that Mangena put in to hone his craft. He said he was lucky to have him on the ANA team.
The competition was held virtually on the Cartoon Magazine website based in North Khorasan province in Iran.
African News Agency (ANA)