Warning: This article contains graphic images and is rated Not Safe For Work.
Controversial South African artist Ayanda Mabulu, has struck again this time with a very graphic painting depicting the late apartheid icon Nelson Mandela being “molested” anally by the current President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma. This painting has caused a wildfire on social media with most users criticising Mabulu for the painting. The Mandela Foundation has issued a statement saying that “ while it respected the artist’s right to freedom of expression‚ it found the painting distasteful.”
This is not the first time Mabulu has courted criticism over his paintings that express his frustrations on the leadership of President Zuma. He painted a depiction of Zuma in the nude exposing his genitalia which he titled Spear Down My Throat. This was followed by a very sexual painting depicting Zuma engaging in a anilingus with Atula Gupta.
Ayanda however seems to be unfazed with all this criticism. He defended his work in an interview with TMG Digital saying,
The rapist is continuing to do what he is good at‚
When asked whether he had gone too far with this portrayal‚ he said‚ “There are no boundaries.”
The victims will be blamed. The oppressor will not be blamed. The focus needs to be on the doer of these things.
Nelson Mandela himself is not God. He is not the Messiah and he understood that himself. We‚ the people‚ are the Messiah. Mandela in the painting is a representation of how the people are treated.
All the people who died before 1994 died in vain. They must be turning in their graves today‚ when they see the oppressor‚ the rapist doing what he does. He is constantly molesting this country.
Did Mabulu cross the line with his painting or not? Does the freedom of expression that creatives enjoy supposed to have boundaries or it’s a free reign? What we are certain of is, Ayanda has stirred the pot of uproar if that was his intention!
