Rasta’s portrait of Julius Malema divides social media

Portrait artist Lebani Sirenje, popularly known as Rasta, was the talk of the Twitter streets again after sharing his latest work of art on Sunday. Though he was initially known for being the “funeral painter”, it seems Rasta has ventured into honouring people while they’re still alive.

He shared a portrait of Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema and divided his social media followers.

While some said he was getting better at painting, some pointed out some questionable features that they said looked nothing like the EFF leader.

“Why is Julius wearing a bottleneck?” asked Mashie, while Pitso Boihang asked: “That ear looks like a ticking clock, Rasta. Any meaning to that?”

Rasta shocked his fans during the weekend after sharing a perfect portrait of one of his subjects. Many, however, complained that they did not like the new Rasta, who got portraits right.

@UmalambaneZN said: “Dude you [losing] your uniqueness, we miss the old Rasta that screwed everything up,” while @Zee10Dmitri wrote: “Rasta I used to love your work. A few more paintings like this then I bid you farewell.”

Now the portrait of Malema is a sign that the old Rasta still exists, these fans argued.

These were some of the comments on social media:

Rasta’s portrait of Julius Malema

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.