Zapiro
His sharp, unflinching political cartoons have been a defining mirror of South Africa's journey from apartheid to its complex democracy.
Born 1958 (age 68)·South African artist and cartoonist·Birthday: October 27·Baby Boomers
Biography
Jonathan 'Zapiro' Shapiro began cartooning as an act of dissent while serving in the South African Defence Force, his early work circulated secretly among conscripts. After studying at the School of Visual Arts in New York, he returned to a South Africa in the throes of the anti-apartheid struggle, and his pen became a weapon for the movement. His caricatures of figures like P.W. Botha were searing indictments of state brutality. The transition to democracy did not dull his edge; he held the new African National Congress government to account with equal vigor, famously depicting President Jacob Zuma preparing to rape Lady Justice. This resulted in a landmark defamation case that Zapiro won, defending satirical free speech. For decades, his single-panel commentaries, syndicated in major newspapers, have blended moral clarity with gallows humor, making him one of the nation's most influential—and sometimes controversial—public voices.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Zapiro was born in 1958, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Zapiro Was Born
The biggest hits of 1958
#1 Movie
South Pacific
Best Picture
Gigi
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Zapiro's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1958Born
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1963Started school
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1971Became a teenager
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1974Could drive
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1976Could vote
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1979Turned 21
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1988Turned 30
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 40
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2008Turned 50
Barack Obama elected first Black US president; financial crisis
Gas: $3.27/galHome: $153,100Min wage: $6.55/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Low" — Flo RidaBest Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
2018Turned 60
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
Gas: $2.72/galHome: $211,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"God's Plan" — DrakeBest Picture: Green Book
2026Age 68 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Published his work consistently in major South African outlets like the *Mail & Guardian*, *The Sunday Times*, and *Daily Maverick* for over three decades.
- Successfully defended a high-profile defamation lawsuit brought by then-President Jacob Zuma over a 2008 cartoon.
- His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Cartoonmuseum in Basel.
- Authored and illustrated numerous collections of his cartoons, documenting South Africa's political history.
Did You Know?
He is the nephew of the British mentalist and magician known as 'The International Man of Mystery', David Berglas.
He was detained and interrogated by the apartheid government's security police for his anti-conscription cartoons in the 1980s.
The nickname 'Zapiro' is a portmanteau of 'Z.A.' (for South Africa) and 'Shapiro'.
He designed the iconic 'Madiba' T-shirt featuring Nelson Mandela's face, which became a global symbol.
““A good cartoon is a visual haiku. It has to be simple, it has to be direct, and it has to have a punchline.””
