Furore over Black Jesus cartoon

2012-06-08 09:27

A clip from the controversial cartoon.

Johannesburg - The Human Rights Commission has received a complaint about a cartoon animation which pokes fun at the Shangaan people and the Christian faith.

The complaint was laid by Pretoria resident Caroline Sithole, 32, who said the cartoon entitled Jesus is Shangaan is offensive and reminded her of the discrimination she suffered growing up because she was Shangaan, The Times reported.

Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, leader of the African Christian Democratic Party, agreed with her.

The two-minute animated video clip was created by Johannesburg company Mdu Comics and portrays a black man called Jesus consulting a doctor who diagnoses him as being a Shangaan and tells him to scrub himself with oranges to get rid of the “shangaan-ness”.

The animation has already been viewed more than 50 000 times.

Mdu Comics founder Mdu Ntuli explained the cartoon by saying: "It is purely fictional. Every nationality has a joke on each other and that's just how it is. For me, it is just ridiculous for any Tsonga person to take this personally."