Johannesburg - Bethuel Mangena, a cartoonist at the African News Agency (ANA), is one of the winners in the Third International Cartoon Contest.
The call for the competition was published internationally in the first days of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran.
Organisers said the call had been met with enthusiasm by artists all around the world.
Cartoonists from different countries presented their work, which was selected for the virtual gallery and final judging.
Mangena was one of the winners selected from 120 countries. More than 8 000 cartoons were presented, making him the only African cartoonist among the 20 winners.
His winning cartoon took the Human Rights title.
He said he felt both blessed and humbled.
“It’s every artist’s dream to see their work recognised internationally. I never thought in my wildest dreams that one day I would find myself competing with thousands of cartoonists from all over the world and be one of the winners,” Mangena said.
It had been a long, difficult journey, but he said such awards encouraged him to wake up in the morning and continue giving his best.
ANA’s syndication chief content officer Lance Witten said he was incredibly proud of the work Mangena delivered on a daily basis.
“I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to maintain razor-sharp wit, artistic skill, acute awareness of what’s making news headlines and the intuitive cognisance to be able to tap into the psyche of people experiencing news events.
He has a set of skills so critical to being a satirist,” Witten said.
“Mangena speaks for the voiceless, sometimes in subtle tones, sometimes straight up flipping the bird, and I love him for it.”
Witten said the award and recognition of Mangena’s skill was testimony to the hours of effort he put in to hone his craft.
He said he was lucky to have him on the ANA team.
The competition was held virtually on the Cartoon Magazine website under the direction of Professor Abbas Naseri from the University of Tehran’s mechanical engineering department.
The Star