Zapiro's Biography

Couldn’t imagine a career in cartooning, so studied architecture at University of Cape Town. Couldn’t imagine a career in architecture, so tried switching to Graphic Design and promptly got conscripted. While in the army he refused to bear arms and became active in 1983 in the newly-formed United Democratic Front.

His arrest under the Illegal Gatherings Act caused some consternation in the SADF and his being monitored by military intelligence while also participating in the End Conscription Campaign, and designing its logo. His work as a cartoonist began in earnest with a wide range of political and progressive organisations.

When the newspaper South began in 1987, he became its editorial cartoonist. He was detained by security police in 1988 shortly before leaving on a Fulbright Scholarship to study media arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York. New York was an eye-opening experience where he studied under comics masters Art Spiegelman, Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman.

He returned to South Africa in 1991 and with Story Circle produced educational comics including Roxy (Aids education), Tomorrow People (democracy education) and A Trolley Full of Rights (a child abuse prevention comic later used by UNICEF elsewhere in Africa).

He works as the editorial cartoonist for Daily Maverick. Previously he was editorial cartoonist for the Sunday Times (1998-2018), for Mail & Guardian (1994-2016), for The Times (May 2009-2016), for Sowetan (1994 – 2005), for Cape Argus (1996 – 1997), and Cape Times, The Star, The Mercury, Pretoria News (2005 – 2008)..

He has held solo cartoon exhibitions in New York, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Dhaka, Sweden and many in South Africa. He has also exhibited in numerous group shows locally and internationally.

He attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland 2003-2006 as one of a group of invited cartoonists. He has been an invited participant and speaker in cartoon events in Cameroon, Botswana, Namibia, Australia, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Taiwan and the USA. In South Africa he has been a presenter and run workshops for a wide variety of organisations and educational institutions.

Resulting from hard-hitting cartoons about President Jacob Zuma, he has twice been sued by Zuma for defamation. At the end of 2012, Zuma dropped one of the lawsuits (a R5 million claim over the 2008 Lady Justice cartoon). In May 2013, Zuma dropped the earlier R10 million lawsuit from 2006.

He has published twenty cartoon collections:

• The Madiba Years (1996)
• The Hole Truth (1997)
• End Of Part One (1998)
• Call Mr Delivery (1999)
• The Devil Made Me Do It! (2000)
• The ANC Went in 4X4 (2001)
• Bushwhacked (2002)
• Dr Do-Little and the African Potato (2003)
• Long Walk to Free Time (2004)
• Is There a Spin Doctor In the House? (2005)
• Da Zuma code (2006)
• Take Two Veg and Call Me In the Morning (2007)
• Pirates of Polokwane (2008)
• Don’t Mess With the President’s Head (2009)
• Do You Know Who I Am?! (2010)
• The Last Sushi (2011)
• But Will It Stand Up in Court (2012)
• My Big Fat Gupta Wedding (2013)
• Its Code Red (2014)
• Rhodes Rage (2015)
• Dead President Walking (2016)
• Hasta la Gupta Baby! (2017)
• Let the Sunshine In (2018)
• Which Side is Up? (2019)

Other publications

• Also published large-format hardcover: The Mandela Files (2008)
• Also published a sports cartoon collection: VuvuzelaNation (2013)
• Also published a 20-year special cartoon collection: Democrazy (2014)
• Also published WTF Capturing Zuma-a cartoonist tale (2019)

• In 2001 he became the first cartoonist to win a category prize in the CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards.
• In 2004 the University of Transkei (now incorporated into Walter Sisulu University) made him an Honorary Doctor of Literature. In 2008 Rhodes University made him an Honorary Doctor of Laws.
• In 2005 the Prince Claus Fund of the Netherlands awarded him the Principal Prince Claus Award.
• In 2005 he also received an Honorary Sunday Times Alan Paton Literary Award.
• In 2005 he won the first Mondi Shanduka Journalist of the Year Award.
• In 2007 the Cartoonists Rights Network (USA) awarded him their annual Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award. Later that year he was also awarded first prize in Berlin, in the international Entwicklungspolitik cartoon competition on Africa.
• In 2009 he won the Media Institute of Southern Africa’s Press Freedom Award.
• In 2011 he was voted one of the 50 most influential people in Africa by the magazine Jeune Afrique
• In 2012 the International Publishers Association (IPA) awarded him their annual Freedom to Publish prize.
• In 2013 he was celebrated as one of the ‘100 World Class South Africans’ by City Press
• In 2013 he was honoured for his contribution to press freedom and social commentary with the renaming of NY 106 as Zapiro Lane in the Name Your Hood Campaign in Gugulethu, Cape Town
• In 2013 and in 2014 he was celebrated as one of the ‘100 World Class South Africans’ by City Press
• In 2014 he was cited as one of the most influential Africans by New African magazine, London
• In 2015 he made Credit Suisse ‘50 Movers and Shakers in Africa’ list
• In 2016 he has been listed as one of the top ten cartoonists in the world by Top Teny online lifestyle magazine, New York.
• In 2016 he received the annual EWK-Prize awarded by the EWK-Society, Norrköping, Sweden
• 2017 he won the Most Bell Award by Wag the Dog Publishers, South Africa for a media thought leader with a stellar track record.
• In 2018 he won the Standard Bank Sikivule Newspaper Journalism Award for Editorial Cartooning
• In 2019 he was appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the order of Arts and Letters) by the President of the French Republic

• The Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Award for Graphic Journalism (2003, 2004, 2007, 2008) and for Editorial Cartoons (2009)
• The Standard Bank Sikuvile award for Editorial Cartoons (2012)
• Vodacom Cartoonist of the Year Award (2006, 2009)
• SA Comedy award for Best Humorous Cartoon (2007, 2008)
• Communicator of the Year award (from Tshwane University of Technology’s dept. of PR and Business Communication, 2005)
• Women Demand Dignity White Ribbon Award (from mayor of Cape Town, 2007)
• Men’s Health Best Man award, Media category (2009)
• Handspring Award for Puppetry, Best Design (2010)