After 25 years of democracy and the country having a new flag, Hastings Mqhayi, from the Eastern Cape claims that he is the original designer of the flag, and not the former state herald Frederick Brownell who passed away a few months ago. Mqhayi says he was part of the thousands of designers that submitted a design of a new flag in 1994, heeding the late former president Nelson Mandela’s call to design a symbol of reconciliation.
It is on #HeritageDay where artists such as Mr Thembani Hastings Mqhayi feel the deepest loss and grief over his creative work of designing the New South African Flag, a design which was erroneously credited to the now late Mr Fred Brownell. @NathiMthethwaSA we still waiting! pic.twitter.com/nhXv7cFGoj
— #SAFlagFraud (@Kulenzima) September 24, 2019
He says he now wants to bring to book the true meaning of the flag and claims that the country is slowly deviating from the envisioned intention.
Mqhayi says he is baffled at how the late Brownwell got all the credit.
“They collected 6 000 works and not a single artwork was discovered. Seven days later, the chairperson of the board came up with the work and said it’s the right one and that piece was actually the one that I designed. I read recently from the newspaper that he says he took three minutes to design.”
The Department of Arts and Culture spokesperson Asanda Magaqa says the department is fully aware of this and advises that proper channels be followed.
“Yes, we are aware because there’s a conversation taking place and we have heard it. But that is completely different to a formal submission that is launched in a procedural and formal way in order for it to receive due attention. Now in this regard, it’s important to engage the heraldry unit of the department.”
