On one occasion in 1987 the security police came looking for me because of a drawing that I'd published.

Shortly after this he was conscripted into the army for two years where he refused to carry arms. MantaJonathan Shapiro who is shown in the cartoon with a speech bubble containing "Go for it boss" labelled the cartoon "racist" while ANC spokesperson Jesse Duarte said the cartoon is "vile crude and disgusting". He has been the editorial cartoonist for the Mail & Guardian since 1994 the Sunday Times since 1998 and since September 2005 he has appeared three times a week in the Cape Times the Star the Mercury and the Pretoria News.

He is the nephew of British magician David Berglas and cousin to Marvin Berglas director of Marvin's Magic. Jonathan Shapiro born 1958 in Cape Town is a South African cartoonist famous as Zapiro whose work appears in numerous South African publications and has been exhibited internationally on many occasions.