South Africa’s Giant ‘Monumental Flag’ Project to be Reviewed

After outrage, almost as huge as a proposed R22-million flag pole project in South Africa, Arts Minister Nathi Mthethwa has backed down and directed his department to review plans to erect the giant 100-metre flag at Freedom Park in Tshwane.

“Over the past few days, the Minister has followed and taken note of public discourse that has unfolded in respect of the envisaged Monumental Flag,” the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture said on Thursday.

The ministry said the diversity of voices around this heritage project are a welcome celebration of the 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. In upholding these ethos and the inalienable rights of citizens to be heard, the Minister has directed his department to review the process related to the Monumental Flag in its totality,” the ministry said.

Many critics of the flag project said the department was out of touch with South Africans, and that this budget should rather go to struggling artists and sports people who had suffered during lockdown. Others ridiculed the project for being Mthethwa’s version of a ‘Fire Pole’ (like former President Jacob Zuma’s ‘fire pool’).

Mthethwa tried to persuade the nation that the massive flag – which would be lit up at night – would play a role in nation-building and social cohesion.

Today the department said it’s entrusted to transform SA’s heritage landscape by building monuments, memorials, museums, changing colonial and apartheid landmark names, as well as the overarching injunction to heal the divisions of the past.

The Arts Department said the World Heritage Convention makes the point that “cultural and natural heritage is not only an irreplaceable source of identity and inspiration, but also a key driving force for sustainable development”.

Opposition politicians pointed out that before building new landmarks, the government should assist in the restoration of historic museums that are on the verge of closure.

The Ministry said it is striving to transform the cultural and heritage landscape to reflect the identify of a democratic SA, and “as we pursue this path, it is hoped that discourse will reflect deeper around these factors”. – SAnews.gov.za

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That R22 Million can be used for KZN floods not Flag#KZNFloods2022 #KZNFloods pic.twitter.com/ScZu5vt70J

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