LET us get to the heart of the matter. In his affidavit, which forms part of the ruling party's legal bid to remove Brett Murray's The Spear from public gaze, the painting's subject, President Jacob Zuma, has complained of being "personally offended and violated".
"The continued display of the portrait is manifestly serious and has the effect of impugning my dignity in the eyes of all who see it," Zuma has said.
"In particular, the portrait depicts me in a manner that suggests that I am a philanderer, a womaniser and one with no respect. It is an undignified depiction of my personality and seeks to create doubt about my personality in the eyes of my fellow citizens, family and children.
"In terms of the theme of the exhibition, my portrait is meant to convey a message that I am an abuser of power, corrupt and suffer political ineptness."
Correct on all counts, and clever president he is in spotting that, for that is exactly what the artist intended. What other interpretation could there possibly be of a depiction of Zuma as revolutionary demi-god, belt undone, genitals exposed, mockingly rendered in the style of a familiar Soviet propaganda poster of Lenin?
Regrettably, the furore has -- and perhaps only for the moment -- drawn attention from the theme of Murray's exhibition, which is to expose the ruling elite's amorality and greed. Titled Hail to the Thief II, it is, in the gallery's words, "satirical work [that] continues his acerbic attacks on abuses of power, corruption and political dumbness seen in his 2010 Cape Town show Hail to the Thief".