Lot 10

Truth and Reconciliation Cliff print by Zapiro prints Price Guide: R5,000

Jonathan Shapiro is a South African cartoonist, known as Zapiro, whose work appears in numerous South African publications and has been exhibited internationally on many occasions. This cartoon was originally published in the Rhodes Journalism Review. It was later adapted and published on 27 May 1997 in the Sowetan.

Cartoonist’s note: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was operational in the mid to late 1990s. The hearings into apartheid-era gross human rights violations were intended to expose what happened during South Africa’s divided and racist past and in so doing to reach some sort of national reconciliation. Here the Arch is shown, as TRC chairperson, guiding victims, perpetrators and the media. Many months into the process, it was becoming apparent that while much of the truth (though certainly not all) had come to light, reconciliation would be far more difficult to achieve. This cartoon is not only the most emblematic one I have done on the TRC process, it is also the most emblematic among my cartoons of that cartoonists’ staple, the ‘oops moment’.

zapiro@zapiro.com