Jonathan Shapiro

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 million of the 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."

Shapiro became the first cartoonist to win a category prize in the CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards in 2001, and was awarded the Mondi Newspaper Award for Graphic Journalism in both 2003 and 2004. That same year he was made an Honorary Doctor of Literature by the University of Transkei. In 2005, Shapiro won the Principal Prince Claus Award. He has held solo cartoon exhibitions in New York, London, Frankfurt, and across South Africa, and has also exhibited in numerous group shows locally and internationally. His exhibition "Jiving with Madiba" was held at the South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town from 14 July to 27 November 2011. He has been an invited participant in cartoon events in Cameroon, Botswana, Australia, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Italy. In 2003, he was Africa's only representative amongst cartoonists invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and he attended the forum again from 2004 to 2006. In 2007, he received the Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award at the annual Cartoonists Rights Network International dinner, capping the 50th Anniversary Convention of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. At the South African Cartoonists Awards in 2008 he won the Best Humorist Cartoon award. In 2009, the Media Institute of Southern Africa awarded Zapiro the MISA Press Freedom Award for his two decades of humour and satire in South Africa. He was awarded the Freedom to Publish Prize by the International Publishers Association in 2012. In 2019, he was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, one of France's highest cultural honours. He was also ranked by Jeune Afrique magazine as one of the 50 most influential personalities on the African continent.