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come to terms with eventually. 22 Furthermore, the picture reveals a rather
beautiful message — even though Nelson Mandela is a global icon who has
achieved the virtually impossible, underneath his fame and glory, he is ‘flesh
and bone just like everyone else’. 23 Politicians need to come to terms with
the fact that pure humanity makes a person great and enables them to
achieve great things.
In light of the above explanation, if I were in the shoes of the Mandela
family, I would see past the horror of the artwork and appreciate the
fantastic complement hidden within it. Even though the ANC has protested
against the display of this painting, I doubt whether Mr Mandela would
employ an approach as narrow-minded and reactionary as critics of the
painting. 24
The second example is a photograph published in The Times, July 21
2010, showing the horrific image of a dead discarded baby. Phylicia Oppelt,
editor of The Times, decided to publish the gruesome photograph on the
front page. In her editorial she writes:
When a life is discarded so easily, like a useless thing, unworthy of our
care, what must we think? It is for this reason that we want to honour
this baby girl’s life — to shout out that she did not deserve to be
dumped like a piece of litter. This child’s death should make us ask
about the society we want to create for our children. The dumping of
a child ... must make us ask what value we attach to that most
wonderful Constitution of ours. 25
Following this publication, ANC child-rights bodies have taken action and
demanded that police find the mother of this baby. 26 Suddenly the
prevalence of this problem has become clear. Due to this photograph, it
appears that state bodies have been forced to take an active approach
towards social problems because the country has been given a glimpse of
what really happens in their country. Clearly horror art functions as an
impetus for change which results in immediate action from government.
Stephanie Munholland, representative of the Door of Hope organisation told
The Times: ‘We are glad you raised the awareness on this issue by using that
picture — this is just one of the many cases that we are faced with on a daily
22 See (n 20 above).
23 L van Wyk ‘Mandela “autopsy” just not on’ 9 July 2010 Mail & Guardian.
24 See (n 22 above).
25 P Oppelt ‘Editorial’ 21 July 2010 The Times 1.
26 G Ndebele ‘Outrage over dumped baby’ 22 July 2010 The Times 6.
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