Zapiro Annual 2025: What Else Could Go Wrong?

No mere thorn in the flesh or fly in the ointment, Zapiro is the fullgrown bull in the china shop. Thirty years running and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. In this 30th annual edition, South Africa’s most iconic political cartoonist once again delivers a masterclass in fearless satire. For three decades, Zapiro has chronicled our national highs and lows with unflinching wit, unrelenting scrutiny and the kind of insight that makes you laugh even as it stings. With his trademark precision and punch, Zapiro dissects another year of scandal, spin and spectacle. He unmasks emperors, spotlights elephants in the room, and pokes the powerful where it hurts. More than a cartoonist, he’s a cultural force – equal parts truth-teller, troublemaker and national conscience. When facts falter and free speech is under fire, Zapiro sharpens his pen. Thirty years on, he’s still making us think, rage, recoil and roar with laughter.

Zapiro is Jonathan Shapiro. Born in 1958, he went through school in Cape Town, architecture at UCT, conscription, activism, detention and a Fulbright Scholarship to New York before establishing himself as South Africa’s best-known cartoonist. He is the editorial cartoonist for Daily Maverick. He has been published in Mail & Guardian, Sowetan, Sunday Times, Independent Newspapers and The Times. As an activist in the 1980s, he drew for the UDF and for South (1987–88). He haspublished 26 best-selling annuals and four special collections. He has won numerous international and South African awards and holds two honorary doctorates.