Interview with Zapiro

I knew Kader well and had great respect and affection for him. He enjoyed appearing in my cartoons whether they were critical of him or not, though whenever I bumped into him he invariably complained with a twinkle in his eye that I always drew his nose too big.

Kader and his wife Louise belonged to the Claremont ANC branch that was later renamed the Gaby Shapiro ANC Branch after my late mother. Gaby was a good friend of theirs.

I admire Kader's courage in recently coming out so strongly against the dangerous Protection of Information Bill (the "Secrecy Bill") while remaining firmly part of the movement he had served so well his whole life long. He was a man of such principle that he wouldn't let the convenience of retirement prevent him from warning loudly and articulately against the undemocratic tendecies and corruption which threaten to undermine the ANC. And of course the very reason he resigned from Pariament was in protest against the scrapping of the Scorpions.

The last time I saw him was at the Franschoek Literary Festival. As I arrived at a session which had just begun, he tugged at my sleeve so I'd sit down next to him. He clearly wasn't well but was still full of his customary wit and humour.

We have lost a great humanitarian, intellectual and activist. I will miss him.

Click here for Kader Asmal Obituary Cartoon

Zapiro: What SA lost with Kader Asmal's death

Asmal is depicted as the ANC's "moral compass" -- a neat representation of an oft-referenced image in criticisms of the ruling party. Asmal is pointing to the side of the compass which has the words ethics, humanism, accountability, non-racialism and constitutionality inscribed on to it. The opposite side of the compass is engraved with the words tenderpreneurship, cadre deployment, racial populism, corruption and secrecy Bill. In the distance, ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema lurks behind a tree.

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