A painting of a dead Mandela has sparked outrage in South Africa. Johannesburg artist Yuill Damaso painted the former South African president as dead and on an autopsy table. He says its a tribute to Mandela, but there is still a lot of outrage over the painting of a dead Mandela. Read about it below, see his picture and a brief biological video below.

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The African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in South Africa, is strongly condemning a painting of South Africa’s first black president as dead and on an operating table undergoing an autopsy. The painting is currently on display in a high-end Johannesburg shopping center. The prominent South African political leader is still alive at 91-years of age. He turns 92 on his birthday, July 18. He has been in increasingly frail health in recent months and because of that has limited his public appearances.

The statement from the ANC reads:

The ANC is appalled and strongly condemns in the strongest possible terms the ‘Dead Mandela’ painting,” the party said in a statement.

It is in bad taste, disrespectful, and it is an insult and an affront to values of our society.

They called the painting ‘r*cist’ and chastised the artist Yuill Damaso for depicting Mandela as dead in his painting as that is considered witchcraft in African society. Mandela is revered as the hero of the South African anti-apartheid revolution.

For his part, Damaso said his painting was not meant as disrespect. He says his intention was to show Nelson Mandela as ‘flesh and bones’, that he is a man like everyone else. He went on to say that Mandela was just an ordinary man who was able to achieve great things and build influence through hard work and determination.

The painting is a modern rendition of a 17th-century Rembrandt piece ‘The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp’. It depicts Mandela on an autopsy table being cut into by Nkosi Johnson, a child AIDS activist who died at the age of 12. Around the table stand some luminary South African figures including Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Jacob Zuma, former president Thabo Mbeki and opposition leader Helen Zille.

As everyone knows, the World Cup is being held in South Africa this year. Mandela was scheduled to attend the tournament’s opening ceremony on June 11, but had to cancel his appearance when his great-granddaughter was killed in a car accident the night before the opening ceremonies. South Africans hope that he’ll be able to attend the Word Cup final on Sunday, however his foundation has said he and his family will not make that decision until the day of the game.

You can see a picture of the painting of dead Mandela here that has stirred up outrage in South Africa. There is also a photo of the artist.

You can watch a brief biography video of Nelson Mandela below.




Photos: Danny Clifford / Hottwire.net / www.wenn.com