This latest flag debacle is the result of minister Nathi Mthethwa’s jingoistic dream that we should build a flag monument of sorts that will be impossible to miss in Tshwane, showing off democratic SA’s national colours, including at night when it will ...
This is why a ministry in charge of arts, culture and sport is as important to our lives as ministries and departments that focus on economic development, justice, finance, international relations, or intelligence. We do not only require food, shelter, water, and physical security to flourish as a species. We also have complex psychosocial needs, as a community of sophisticated beings in search of, and creating, meaning. Mthethwa’s portfolio is therefore certainly not a frivolous one.
About half of South Africans who are capable of working are unemployed. Over the next three years our average GDP growth projections are less than 2% per annum. We are infamously one of the world's most unequal societies, including wealth, asset, and income inequalities. This, in turn, means that gross levels of consumption inequality will persist, and so intergenerational economic immobility will remain a cruel SA reality for a long while still.
Symbols like a national flag can be important in getting us to rally behind a common purpose. We need not be cynical about symbolic power. But, equally, we have a patriotic duty to distinguish between moments of national pride, like when we win the Rugby World Cup, and moments when useless politicians weaponise our national symbols to deflect from their failures.
In a halfhearted attempt to rationalise this ridiculous flag idea, Mthethwa said, “We are memorialising our democracy and we are building this monumental flag which will be there forever to inform society about this symbol. It is quite a clear marker of a break with the colonialism and apartheid. It epitomises the democratic values and other values.”
Mthethwa is way off the mark. The best way to break with colonialism and apartheid is to change the material conditions of millions of black South Africans who have a degree of political freedom but no genuine economic and social freedoms. A monumental flag is not a restoration of black dignity. Clean, ethical and effective governance is the only way to put distance between contemporary SA and our brutal colonial and apartheid past.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
ANALYSIS: Nathi Mthethwa’s (final?) monumental red flagOne of Mthethwa’s many problems is that he has created a long list of enemies – and his latest misstep is a good opportunity to remind the nation of his lockdown failure.
Read more »
WATCH: Ramaphosa says he told Mthethwa to cancel R22 million flag project – The CitizenRamaphosa said South Africa has a government that listens to its citizens
Read more »
Ramaphosa orders Mthethwa to scrap R22m flag projectPresident Cyril Ramaphosa said that Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa phoned him to seek counsel amid the backlash over the initiative which many South Africans rejected.
Read more »
DA wages twar on Mthethwa’s R22 million flag monument – The CitizenThe opposition party waged an all-out social media assault on Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa.
Read more »
Nathi Mthethwa’s R22m monumental flag under reviewThere has been widespread criticism of the minister's plan to spend R22m on a 100m-high flag
Read more »