Jacob Zuma Finally Sues Zapiro And Sunday Times Over Rape Cartoon



South Africa President Jacob Zuma has sued prominent cartoonist Jonathan "Zapiro" Shapiro and the Sunday Times for $700,000 claiming defamation from a cartoon depicting him as about to sexually assault justice. The cartoon originally appeared in 2008. Variations on that cartoon -- changing the subject of the potential assault or the identity of the people holding that person down -- have appeared since. A lawsuit or some sort of legal action has been threatened or fumed about by/from the Zuma camp ever since. The money sought breaks down into two categories: one is for humiliation, the other is for the damage to his reputation.

Zapiro has told the Sunday Times' daily iteration that he won't back down, which is consistent with every statement he's made since the cartoon originally appeared. The AP article points out that the cartoon was brought in front of the country's Human Rights Commission in 2008 by one of the people depicted as holding down the justice system for Zuma; the commission concluded there was not violation of the man's "constitutional right to dignity" and that the cartoon was not hate speech.
 
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