Zapiro

Jonathan was born into a Jewish family in Cape Town, South Africa to Gershon and Gaby Shapiro. An early influence was the English cartoonist Carl Giles, whose work inspired him to become a cartoonist when he was a child.

He studied architecture at the University of Cape Town but found it unsatisfying and moved to the art campus, Michaelis. Shortly after this he was conscripted into the army for two years, where he refused to carry arms. In 1983, he became active in the newly formed anti-apartheid movement, the United Democratic Front, and as a result was arrested under the Illegal Gatherings Act and, subsequently, monitored by military intelligence. Zapiro was an important participant in South Africa's End Conscription Campaign, designing its logo. After his military service he applied for and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study cartooning at the School of Visual Arts in New York for two years.

The name Zapiro was derived from the nickname of a fellow pupil at Rondebosch Boys' High School, Martin Szapiro, whose friends called him Zap. After Martin's death in a mountaineering accident, Zapiro chose this name. The first Zapiro character was named Preppy, whose main characteristic was his fringe, and who commented on issues that occurred around school.

Shapiro started out as the editorial cartoonist of South in 1987. In 1988 Jonathan was detained shortly before leaving on a Fulbright scholarship to study media arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York. There he studied under the comics masters Art Spiegelman, Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman.

Zapiro started out as the editorial cartoonist for the South newspaper in 1987, and after his stint in New York, he was the editorial cartoonist for the Sowetan from 1994 to 2005. His cartoons appeared in the Cape Argus from 1996 to 1997. He has been the editorial cartoonist for the Mail & Guardian since 1994, for the Sunday Times since 1998, and has appeared since September 2005 three times a week in the Cape Times, the Star, the Mercury, and the Pretoria News.

In 2010, Zapiro’s cartoons were featured in South African journalist Alexander Parker’s book, 50 People Who Stuffed Up South Africa, about people who had contributed most to the ruination of the country’s government, culture, politics and daily life. His illustrations continued to be featured in three more books published in the series, including a revised/updated version of the first volume.

Since 2017, Zapiro has been the editorial cartoonist for the publication Daily Maverick.

Zapiro's caricatures also appear in the form of puppets on the satirical television and web show ZANEWS, a Spitting Image-type of programme he helped launch in 2009 alongside producer Thierry Cassuto.

In 2003, members of the Faith and Politics Institute, an American organisation, lodged complaints against three of the cartoons at an exhibition for visiting American congressional representatives as well as members of the institute. The cartoons in question depicted former American president Bill Clinton and US policies of "trade and not aid", and President George W. Bush with a raised middle finger in a comment on American unilateralism and Bush's stance on the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

In 2006, former Deputy President of South Africa Jacob Zuma furthered his claim of being "tried by the media" and threatened to bring a defamation action against various elements of the press for remarks that he alleged were defamatory. Approximately R 15 million of the R 63 million demanded by his legal representatives were in connection with Zapiro cartoons.

In 2008, Zapiro met with further animosity, this time from the South African ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) over a cartoon that appeared in the Sunday Times on 7 September 2008. The cartoon depicted a scene in which the ANC president's (Jacob Zuma) staunchest supporters (ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, secretary general of the ANC, Gwede Mantashe, SACP secretary general Blade Nzimande and Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi) were holding down Lady Justice while Zuma, in a state of undress, appeared to be preparing to rape her. Mantashe, who was shown in the cartoon with a speech bubble containing "Go for it, boss", labelled the cartoon "racist", while ANC spokesperson Jesse Duarte said the cartoon was "vile, crude and disgusting". Zapiro refused to apologise for the cartoon. The African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and the ANC Youth League released a joint statement as a formal response to The Sunday Times, while the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) issued a separate press statement demanding an apology.

On 21 May 2010 the Mail and Guardian published a strip from Zapiro depicting Muhammed, as part of Everybody Draw Mohammed Day. On 20 May 2010, the M&G had won against an eleventh-hour court bid by the Council of Muslim Theologians to bar the publication of the cartoon. A week later, Zapiro released another cartoon in response to the various reactions to the original cartoon. In it he said that he would have to accept that exceptions would be necessary in regard to 'religious censorship'. This was seen by some as a statement that he felt that his freedom of speech might have to be limited because of those that were insulted by his cartoon which had graphically depicted Mohamed.

In 2016, a cartoon he published depicting National Prosecuting Authority head Shaun Abrahams as a monkey was criticised for being racist. Shapiro apologised for the cartoon stating that "I've offended politicians for all sorts of things. I've been attacked because of the cartoons of Jacob Zuma. I can defend, I'd say‚ 99% of them. Occasionally‚ I make mistakes ... This‚ I see now as a mistake."