NEWS of the fearful sort has reached us at the Mahogany Ridge. It seems that, once again, the ruling party has been terrified by works of art of a satirical nature.
Grateful thanks, then, to the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal for alerting us to the offensive pieces in question. Had not provincial spokesman Senzo Mkhize waved around his soiled fascist trousers so demonstrably we may never have known of the T-shirts on display at the Westville Boys High School matric art exhibition in Durban.
As a result of the subsequent "political row" - as some newspapers have called it - the school's headmaster, Trevor Hall, has issued a statement in an apparent bid to put the matter to rest.
There was, alas, little chance of that happening in a hurry.
The school's visual art syllabus, Hall explained, included a section on social and political commentary. Over the years this had produced art "expressive of a wide range of opinions"; pupils were free to comment on society as they saw fit as was their constitutional right.
"I note," he continued, "that the art work of some of our learners, in the form of printed T-shirts on display, has caused offence to a political party. The three artworks in question were created by free-thinking learners as part of their art portfolios for examination."