Is Minister Mthethwa throwing the management of the Afrikaanse Taalmonument under the bus?
3 June 2022
The DA is concerned that Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa may be trying to throw the management of the Afrikaanse Taalmuseum en -monument under the bus for acting on his instruction to remove Afrikaanse from the name of the Monument.
Following a public outcry and fierce resistance from the DA, Minister Mthethwa seems to be trying to change his tune in order to distance himself from the crisis his irresponsible instruction triggered.
According to a reply from Simion Nkanunu, Cabinet and Parliamentary Officer in the Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture (DSAC), to the DA’s request to see the agreement between the Minister and the Afrikaanse Taalmonument regarding the proposal to remove Afrikaans from the name, “there is no agreement ever existed between the Minister and the Board of the Afrikaanse Taalmonument. [sic]”
Nkanunu further complained that “It is very much disturbing that the Department/Minister’s office continuously gets dragged into rumuors or unverified information…”