Mabulu’s outrage the price of democracy

Aright. values. YANDA Mabulu is certainly a provocative character. He likes testing South Africans’ tolerance with his art, thriving on the publicity and public outrage he arouses. His latest offering is doubtless in dubious taste – a picture of President Jacob Zuma performing a sexual act on Nelson Mandela. Mabulu is a master attention seeker and not ne- cessarily an original either – following in the wake of the row over the Zapiro rape cartoon, he stands vulnerable to accusations he is cashing in on being offensive. However, his explanation is that his new work is justifiable because it depicts what he believes Zuma is doing to Mandela’s legacy. It’s far from the first time Mabulu has used crude sexual imagery in the name of art. It has rather be- come his stock in trade. Naturally few, if any, are impressed. Those who regard his work as vulgar and offen- sive have every right to avert their gaze and steer clear. Those who wish to criticise its content and execution similarly should be free to do so. We should, however, resist the temptation to shut him down. Some might consider it the “downside” of dem- ocracy, but Mabulu has the right to his artistic ex- pression. If anyone else likes it, they have the same There is simply no way of stopping Mabulu painting this offensive picture and others that might offend in the future. Unlike in Caesar’s time, when calls could have been made to “tear him apart for his bad verse”, any violence towards Mabulu on account of his art would be an assault on the very democratic values we hold dear. To use Mabulu’s own imagery, it would be us performing an indecent act against our democratic