To be or not to be "showerheaded"
Nothing stirs up the divisions in South African society, which is supposed to be united in its diversity, quite like the Zapiro cartoons which depict the President with a showerhead, in various stages of hover and angle, drip and drop, upon his pate.The genesis of this satirical device is in the evidence given by the former leader of the Moral Regeneration Movement when he was on trial on a charge of rape of a HIV positive young woman less than half his age, a houseguest and the daughter of an old struggle friend. Jacob Zuma explained, with a straight face, that he took a shower after having unprotected intercourse in order to minimise the risk of becoming infected. He subsequently called a press conference at which he apologised for setting such a bad example and confessed that protected sex with those you know to be infected is preferable to taking a useless shower. The Court accepted that Zuma could reasonably possibly have thought he was having consensual sex with the young woman, so the rape charge did not stick. Zapiro has not accepted the apology, nor is he obliged to do so.
Instead, Zapiro has allowed the showerhead to transform itself into a metaphor for accountable conduct on the part of the President. When he does well the showerhead is smaller, lifted and possibly absent; conversely, when he acts unaccountably, the showerhead assumes a menacing prominence in the cartoons that Zapiro pens.
Political cartoons do not necessarily have to be funny. They are not printed in the press on the editorial pages for nothing. They appear there because they constitute graphic commentary on the issues of the day, often succinctly making their point in far less space and with far fewer words than the editors and commentariat are prone to using to make their points.
At least four of the human rights guaranteed to all in the Constitution come into play in the debate regarding the future use of the showerhead in the Zapiro cartoons. On the one side there is the freedom of expression of Zapiro, on the other are the rights to dignity and privacy which the President enjoys equally with all other people. In between is the right of the public to access to information. The position of the showerhead in the cartoon is indeed information that the cartoon watchers among us can observe in an instant, and from its prominence, use and state, infer exactly what Zapiro thinks of the latest conduct of the President or his involvement (or lack of it) in the affairs of the day.
As a politician and a public person, the President has forfeited a great deal of his right to privacy. It is in the public interest that the public be able to receive commentary in easily digestible form on the acts and omissions of the President. When Zapiro dubbed former President Mbeki "Mr Delivery" and depicted him driving a pizza delivery scooter, no one complained, rightly so. Later, when Mbeki became haughty and aloof from ordinary folk, Zapiro had him reply to a beggar "You want change? Change takes time."
In the case of President Zuma, the blurring of the line between public and private is exaggerated by Zuma's own willingness to play to the media. He invites the press to all his weddings and allows photographs of the colourful celebrations to be published. He tweets about the acting careers of his offspring and continues to do outrageous things which he must know will attract the attention of the media. Supplying his friend Irvin Khosa with an out of wedlock grandchild is but one example of the propensity for publicity which the President generates.
Quite apart from balancing the personal human rights involved, there are foundational values to take into consideration as well. Our constitutional democracy under the rule of law in a multi-party system demands a degree of robustness in the public discourse around the comings and goings of the President that one might not find in a monarchical system. Our Constitution says in terms that our form of democratic government exists "to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness."
In these circumstances it has to be borne in mind that it was Zuma himself who introduced the shower into the public domain during his evidence in the rape trial, and it was also Zuma who called the subsequent press conference to apologise and to attempt to explain his ill-thought out evidence concerning his post-coital showering.
Many who argue for the disappearance of the showerhead rely on what they call the necessary respect for the President and the office he holds. While dignity is guaranteed to all equally, the notion that a president automatically qualifies for respect merely because of the office he holds is a dubious one. Zuma is president because the majority of some 6000 delegates at Polokwane voted him in, in preference to Mbeki, and because the majority of the voters in South Africa support the alliance he leads, consisting of the SA Community Party and Cosatu. Respect for the office of president may be due, but the alliance itself had no compunction about recalling Mbeki in September 2008, when it seemed that he might manoeuvre Zuma into jail rather than into the Union Buildings.
Because all people are equal before the law in SA and all enjoy equal protection and benefit of the law, there is no juridical basis for the suggestion that Zuma, the man, is entitled to some special status of respect merely because he holds the office of president. Respect is guaranteed to no one. It has to be earned. Respect for the office of the president is a different creature altogether.
When Zapiro was first asked about removing the showerhead, his response was to the effect that Zuma would have to earn it. When Zuma progressed in the right direction toward earning Zapiro's respect, the showerhead grew smaller and even hovered as if to detach itself. When regressive events occurred, the opposite effect appeared in the cartoons in which Zuma is depicted. It continues to appear as a rough barometer of the state of accountability, responsiveness and openness required of Zuma by the Constitution and the cartoonist, who is an ardent constitutionalist.
Zuma has sued Zapiro several times for defaming him in cartoons. Increasingly, he relies on his dignity and privacy to found these actions, which seem never to get to trial. The reduced reliance on reputation in these long running damages actions is remarkable.
If Zuma turns over a new leaf and conducts himself accountably, responsively and openly, Zapiro will have to consider his own credibility as a cartoonist and may have to abandon the showerhead in the face of improved performance by the President.
Those in favour of the disappearance of the showerhead should accordingly urge the President to take expeditious and appropriate steps against underperforming or crooked cabinet members, politicians and public servants; appoint a commission of inquiry into the arms deals; hasten the replacement of the Scorpions with a truly independent corruption fighting unit; actually create decent jobs, equal education and sustainable rural development instead of just talking endlessly about these well chosen national priorities.
Zapiro will be hard pressed to keep the showerhead in place in the face of conduct of this kind.
Paul Hoffman SC
26th July, 2011
