What else could go wrong? We ask Zapiro...

Jonathan Shapiro (better known as Zapiro) is back with his 30^th annual collection of cartoons.

While ‘What Else Could Go Wrong?’ sounds very cynical, Zapiro is actually somewhat optimistic.

"In my occupation if you lose all hope, if you lose enthusiasm for what could be of interest, what could spark something different... then what is the point?"

Reflecting on his multi-decade career, Zapiro says sometimes the changes that have happened are difficult to perceive.

"When I look at the kind of feeling that I had during the transition period, and then as I went into doing editorial cartoons full-time (which was as we became a democracy in '94) – those five or six years... Mandela's presidency, there was a kind of enthusiasm that was getting tempered with this kind of prick of what is happening, there's corruption here even under Nelson Mandela? 

"The changes are in how I see myself in the general situation... I saw myself as massively part of it, then I'm a watchdog – then an opponent, then an enemy, now somebody who's just engaged and wanting to make things better."

No stranger to controversy, Zapiro admits the work has become more challenging over the years, especially as it's difficult to put context into every cartoon.

"I do feel sometimes avenues of conversation are just shut."

To listen to Zapiro in conversation with CapeTalk's John Maytham, click below: