Controversial South African Artist Ayanda Mabulu was arrested Following His 'Blame it on The Boer' Artwork
The painter has once again sparked considerable controversy with his newest painting, this time about white people.
Yesterday, well-known protest artist Ayanda Mabulu was arrested following a public display of his latest artwork titled Blame it on the Boer outside the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in Sandton, Johannesburg.
Ayanda Mabulu is no stranger to the spotlight, given the often controversial nature of his artwork. His most recent painting depicts former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste who was involved in the biggest fraud in South Africa's corporate history and the late racist Eugene Terre'Blanche, leader of the AWB, a neo-nazi Afrikaner resistance movement.
The body of a black man is also seen hanging upside down while Steinhoff is depicted receiving fellatio from a black woman. All four figures are superimposed on several swastikas. The words "Blame it on the Boer" are placed at the bottom of the painting and refer to white people, but more specifically, Afrikaners. Surrounding the painting are the actual severed heads of pigs with hundred rand notes stuffed in their mouths.
Asked about the meaning of his latest artwork, Mabulu responded:
"'Every white racist, he's as filthy as that pig. I'm here to represent and speak on behalf of the highly undermined black people who have been robbed by white monopoly capital.''
Mabulu has produced several explicit artworks in the past, which some have not only termed offensive but tiresomely phallic, degrading of black women and controversial for the sake of controversy's sake. Others have asserted that it is necessary protest art. In September of this year, Mabulu released a painting entitled Unmasked Piece of Shit where he depicted the late former President Nelson Mandela in a Nazi salute, against the backdrop of a swastika. The piece deeply offended the Nelson Mandela Foundation as they felt it put Mandela, who stood against hatred, in front of something that "spewed hatred." Another particularly graphic painting of Mabulu's, depicted former President Jacob Zuma and again, Mandela, in an apparent sexual act.
However, many have taken to Twitter to express how Mabulu's arrest is unfair and something which never occurred in the past when he depicted black leaders.
A scuffle ensued when the police attempted to confiscate the painting from Mabulu who they subsequently arrested. He was later released and warned not to return to the JSE with his artwork.
Watch footage of the painter's display and subsequent arrest below.