By Johnathan Paoli
Public Diplomacy Head for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Clayson Monyela, has apologised and deleted a social media comment that triggered a political storm after it appeared to endorse calls for South Africa to revive a nuclear weapons programme.
The controversy erupted following an exchange on X, where a user urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to “bring back nuclear programs” to protect South Africa from what was described as bullying by the United States.
Responding to the comment, Monyela wrote: “I find no fault in your proposal”.
Although the remark did not explicitly call for the revival of nuclear weapons, it was widely interpreted as supportive of nuclear rearmament.
The comment drew swift backlash, particularly given South Africa’s unique international standing as the only country to have voluntarily dismantled its nuclear weapons programme.
Monyela later deleted the post and issued a clarification, conceding that the
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