Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele maintains that the widely rejected R22-million monumental flag would reinforce unity among South Africans.
Addressing the media on the outcomes of a post-cabinet meeting in Pretoria on Thursday, Gungubele said if people can look at the content of the flag, they will find that it is a critical flag that will actually reinforce cohesion in South Africa.
“But the issue of cost is what the minister [of sports, arts and culture Nathi Mthethwa] is reviewing, especially in the context of the contesting needs of our country like access to water, poverty, and access to food,” said Gungubele.
On Thursday last week, Mthethwa instructed his department to review the project following widespread hostile reaction from the public. Mthethwa said at the time that he had taken into consideration the public discourse regarding the envisaged flag.
“The diversity of voices around this important heritage project is a welcome celebration of our country’s vibrant constitutional democracy and the freedoms that must be upheld beyond posterity. It also bodes well for one of the pillars of social cohesion which is an active citizenry,” Mthethwa said in a statement last week.
The debate mainly centred around the cost of the flag, with many people saying the money can be better allocated to fund struggling sporting codes and to feed many artists who suffered a major blow when Covid-19 regulations were introduced in 2020, crippling the entertainment industry.
Speaking at the Black Business Council’s gala dinner last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa told his audience that Mthethwa had called him to say South Africans are not happy. He then candidly told the minister to cancel the flag project.
Mthethwa told the president at the time: “President, this flag thing, which is such a wonderful initiative, it seems our people are not happy with it.” He then asked for Ramaphosa’s advice on what to do. “Cancel this thing,” responded the president.
According to media reports, Ramaphosa’s cabinet had initially approved the 100m flagpole project, however, there was no determination on the cost at the time the project was given the green light.
Also read: Controversial Flag project to be reviewed
Ramaphosa tells Mthethwa to cancel controversial R22m flag project
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
