Amukelani Chauke
OUTRAGE over a cartoon making fun of Shangaans and the Christian faith has led to a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.
A Pretoria resident has lodged a complaint with the HRC about a cartoon animation she regards as offensive to both Shangaan-speaking people and Christians.
Caroline Sithole, 32, has asked the commission to investigate whether the cartoon, called "Jesus is Shangaan”, is discriminatory against her and other Shangaan-speaking South Africans.
Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, president of the African Christian Democratic Party, criticised the cartoon as offensive to both Shangaans and the Christian faith.
The two-minute cartoon clip, designed by Johannesburg’s Mdu Comics, depicts a black Jesus character who attempts to commit suicide after doctors "diagnose” him as Shangaan.
In the clip, which has had 49000 hits on YouTube Jesus, who speaks Zulu, had consulted a doctor because of a broken toe. But after doing a random DNA test, the doctor says: "Jesus, there is no easy way of telling you this...You are Shangaan”.
The Jesus character then scrubs himself before leaving a suicide note.
Commission spokesman Vincent Moaga said the complaint was being assessed to determine if it was a violation of human rights.
In her complaint, Sithole said she felt insulted by the animation because it had opened up old wounds about growing up Shangaan, because of constant discrimination.
"The [animation] came from a colleague and friend who said, ‘I am happy you will be Zulu soon’, referring to the fact that I am marrying a Zulu man.
"It is sad that in democratic South Africa you still have people who believe Zulus or other tribes are superior to Shangaans,” she wrote.
