The Pen is Mightier Than Apartheid

George Pemba’s cartoon of Hendrik Verwoerd appeared on the front page of the first issue of Isizwe — The Nation in June 1959.

Courtesy of Mayibuye Archives, Cape Town.

A cartoon by George Pemba (right) appeared in the first issue of Isizwe, published in June 1959.

The struggle veteran, Raymond Mhlaba, recalled this cartoon: "We decided, Govan [Mbeki], myself and other young fellows, to produce a newspaper known as Isizwe - The Nation, and then asked George [Pemba] to make cartoons for our paper.

"I remember one [see cartoon, right] very clearly depicting [apartheid prime minister HF] Verwoerd with a knobkerrie in his right hand and a Bible in his left."

- Isizwe, June-July 1959, courtesy of Mayibuye Archives, Cape Town

back to the George Pemba memorial page

IN THE CLASSROOM

	Archive and Artwork Photo Gallery
	See Pemba painting at an easel in his garden, and what the memorial in front of his house looks like.

	George Pemba at work
	A short extract from the 1995 documentary, George Pemba: Painter of the People, which shows Pemba at work