‘The Flag is Mine’: Man Who Designed South African Flag Demands ‘Monthly Salary’
‘The Flag is Mine’: Man Who Designed South African Flag Demands ‘Monthly Salary’ – Eastern Cape artist Thembani Hastings Mqhayi has reignited his long-standing battle for recognition, insisting that the design of South Africa’s national flag is his original work — not that of the late Frederick Brownell.
Speaking through his spokesperson Bandile Magibili, Mqhayi issued a stern ultimatum to Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie.
“We are giving them until the end of May,” warned Magibili in a recent interview with Newzroom Afrika.
“If there’s no engagement by then, we will proceed legally. We do not think we will be open to any further discussions.”
The controversy is not new. In 2022, Mqhayi filed papers in the High Court in Pretoria against the then Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, and the State Herald, citing them as the first and second respondents respectively.
The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has consistently denied that Mqhayi had anything to do with the flag’s creation.
Mqhayi contends that after Nelson Mandela’s 1993 call for citizens and artists to submit designs for a new national flag, he responded by submitting five original designs through the East London Post Office.
“One of the designs that I submitted was later adopted and used to create the flag,” Mqhayi stated in an affidavit.
Unfortunately, he admitted that he did not retain copies of his submissions.
According to Magibili, their team has obtained “some information, including records from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture” to support Mqhayi’s claim.
He added: “If the department had nothing to hide, they would have agreed to participate in interviews. Instead, they reject all interviews relating to this subject.”
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Mqhayi has long alleged that Brownell, who served as South Africa’s State Herald between 1982 and 2002 and was later celebrated as a hero after his death in 2019, “stole his designs and submitted them as his own.”
Magibili emphasized, “The word ‘claiming’ is overused. The design of the flag of the country is indeed Mr. Thembani Hastings Mqhayi’s design.”
As South Africa marked Freedom Day celebrations, Mqhayi took the opportunity to intensify calls for acknowledgment.
He also directly addressed Minister McKenzie, seeking discussions to resolve the matter. However, there has been no response from McKenzie’s office to date.
Mqhayi remains steadfast: “The flag is mine,” he asserts — and unless the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture is willing to engage meaningfully, a courtroom showdown seems inevitable.
