SOUTH Africa President Jacob Zuma has said he was “shocked, and felt personally Âoffended and violatedâ€? when he saw a copy of artist Brett Murray’s painting The Spear for the first time.
The painting, which has divided public opinion in the country, Âdepicts him as “a philanderer, a womaniser and one with no Ârespectâ€?, says Zuma.
Zuma’s ANC party is taking a local newspaper, City Press and the Goodman Gallery, which is displaying the work, to court on Tuesday.
They want the gallery to remove the portrait from Murray’s Hail to the Thief II exhibition and City Press to delete the image from its website.
A continued display of the Âartwork, which shows Zuma’s Âgenitals hanging out, will impugn Zuma’s dignity “in the eyes of all who see itâ€?, the president states in an affidavit served on the newspaper as part of court Âpapers.
On Saturday the president’s children came to his defence, Âsaying the portrait was “vulgar and lacks humanityâ€?.
Character
“It seeks to take away our Âfather’s dignity, and destroy his true character and stature as a man, a father, and a leader of the ANC and South African society at large,â€? said the statement, written by his daughter Gugu on behalf of the family.
Lawyers for Zuma and the ANC will argue on Tuesday in the South Gauteng High Court that The Spear is in breach of the president and the party’s constitutional rights to dignity and privacy.
The Goodman Gallery – whose owner received death threats over the weekend – and City Press are defending the action.
Zuma says the ANC takes exception “to the symbolism the portrait uses in order to portray the ANC through its president� as responsible for “abuses of power, corruption and political dumbness� – the theme of the exhibition.
Zuma says he realises that the image has been displayed to “millions within and outside the country�, and that despite its removal, “it will
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