Zuma ‘Spear’ painting vandalised: Social media stirs

A recently displayed painting of South African president Jacob Zuma with his penis out has polarised certain sections of that country. Now the painting has been vandalised, stirring up emotions on social media.

The painting by artist Brett Murray compares Zuma’s phallus to a spear and has been on display in the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. A few minutes ago, two well-dressed men walked up to the artwork and painted a large red X over the president’s “spear”.

A journalist present at the gallery immediately started uploading photos of the incident to Twitter, which were then shared by eNews head Patrick Conroy:

Others started tweeting pictures grabbed from their TV screens after a film crew managed to catch the vandals in the act:

Some expressed shock at what had happened:

Others suggested that the two men who painted over the spear had done Zuma a favour:

One user thought that people might be overreacting slightly:

Others suggested the whole thing was a giant conspiracy:

At leat one Twitter user suggested the painting may have gone up in value:

The South African president has filed a case against the gallery to have the painting removed, saying that it’s disrespectful to him.

The two men who vandalised the painting have since been arrested.

More

News

Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest in digital insights. sign up

Welcome to Memeburn

Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest in digital insights.