Regression of the Youth League Leadership

THE DESCENT OF MAN: The once proud ANCYL, where presidents were groomed and a revolution was spawned, has lately been reduced to a circus of chimps, observes this ZAPIRO cartoon.

However it is not this observation which has attracted much debate around the cartoon, but the artist's controversial depiction of black people as monkeys - a bitter reminder of centuries of racist depictions of such a nature. Strong arguments have been made for and against the cartoon, some of which you can read here.

Our position is that this cartoon is clearly not racist, and that given its evolutionary theme the monkey imagery is quite necessary. But use of such imagery treads a very fine line, and should be carefully considered by cartoonists in each such instance to ensure against causing gratuitous offence.

[see a later, similar cartoon by Zapiro here].