Johannesburg — A school assignment with questions about a Zapiro cartoon depicting President Jacob Zuma drifting in a pool of cash may land a Gauteng school in hot water.

Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi warned he would “act decisively” against the school yesterday.

Lesufi posted an image of the question paper on Facebook. The cartoon by Jonathan Shapiro, aka Zapiro, shows Zuma — complete with shower head —floating on a lilo, balancing a drink on his stomach, in a pool of money.

The cartoon was a reaction to the R246 million spent on so-called security upgrades to Zuma’s private Nkandla homestead. These included a swimming pool.

Pupils are instructed to name the man in the photo. Another question asks if, based on the cartoon, the child would vote for the man to be president.

One pupil answered: “No I wouldn’t because he looks way too stupid to think about others and he’s swimming in money which shows that he is selfish when it comes to money.”

The answer received two ticks, along with a note in red pen reading: “Good”.

Accompanying the post, Lesufi wrote: “How dare you ask school children in class these questions? Forgive me but on Monday, we will act decisively against this school! May I thank the parents who brought this to our attention. Someone will fall, this we can assure you!”

Department spokesperson Oupa Bodibe confirmed the matter was taken to the MEC by a parent.

He said the name of the school would not yet be divulged.

“We take serious exception of this and have requested officials to investigate this matter.” — AFP

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