“I wish I painted you when you were still alive.” – Rasta releases more Zahara portraits

Despite widespread criticism of his paintings that were unveiled at the funeral of the late South African singer Zahara, renowned Zimbabwean Rasta the Artist has unveiled more portraits of the ‘Loliwe’ hitmaker, saying she would have been proud of him if she were alive.

Not for the first time, Rasta found himself under heavy criticism after South African politician Andrek “Panyaza” Lesufi shared pictures of that country’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture seemingly deep in conversation with the Zimbabwean born artiste at the sidelines of the funeral service of the late musician. Beside them was what some felt was an insulting portrait of Zahara.

Posting on social media, Rasta stated his wish to have painted Zahara while she was still alive.

“Rest Zahara. I wish I painted you when you were still alive. You would have loved the paintings as it depicts the girl you were in country and lands. You played a guitar to my life when it was broken,” he captioned the post.

After Zahara’s death, many had voiced their disapproval of Rasta’s work, which they said was in poor taste. Some went as far as advocating for his deportation from South Africa.

MZANSI REACTS

“Rasta is no longer funny, and people should stop inviting him to their funerals. We’ve normalised nonsense as a country,” said one X user.

Another user added; “Why allow him to proceed with such nonsense in funerals of prominent figures. That’s why other countries undermine us. We make a joke of everything. He must not be allowed to paint at funerals.”

@ChinaBerry_ commented, “This is now insulting….. Not funny anymore.”

@BoikieBoikzaro posted, “I hope this is the last time Rasta ever painted anyone because it’s now going from bad to worse.”

@daisy_matlou said, “The pictures are horrible and not representative of our late Queen Zahara.”

@phenyomatshego posted, “After seeing this, I immediately rushed to see what people are saying because I really can’t see Zahara here.”

@NewsOclock_SA commented, “It has reached the point of disrespect 🤞.”