The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC) states it will evaluate its strategies to develop a 100-metre high ‘huge flag’ for R22 million.

The federal government’s strategies have actually been met outrage and criticism from residents, political celebrations, and other groups following the department’s budget plan vote speech recently (10 May) where the expenses were exposed.

The department was slammed for costs expensive quantities of cash on a “vanity task” when lots of have actually struggled to protect any financing or help from the department over the last 2 years of Covid-19 lockdowns. There is likewise a continuous requirement for funding and establishing sports and the arts in South Africa, which typically go underfunded.

Civil action group Outa called the task a “huge waste of cash”.

Significant flags are normally set up by nations to reveal their identity and pride. South Africa’s intent to develop one was initially revealed in February 2022.

When built, the DSAC stated the flag would end up being a nationwide landmark and a traveler destination website that would serve to show the nation’s brand name image.

In its yearly efficiency prepare for 2022/2023, the department stated it had actually currently started a procedure to conceptualise, style and eventually set up a nationwide huge flag, with a flagpole that would extend 100 metres in height.

” An expediency research study on the advancement southern African huge flag was carried out in 2020/2021. The outcomes of the expediency research study will notify the quick for the South African nationwide significant flag,” stated minister Nathi Mthethwa.

” R5 million is allocated in 2022/23 for the site-specific geotechnical research studies, consisting of the ecological effect evaluation and other tests and applications that will be needed prior to building. In 2023/24 R17 million is assigned for the setup of the significant flag.”

The department kept in mind that the flag is the sign of ‘nationhood’ and the ‘typical identity’ of individuals of South Africa.

Following the criticism, Mthethwa at first protected the flag, stating that it was crucial to nation-building and “changing South Africa’s heritage landscape”. Nevertheless, on Thursday (19 May), the department attracted its aspirations, stating that the flag task will be evaluated.

” In maintaining the values and the inalienable rights of people to be heard, the minister of Sport, Arts and Culture has actually directed his department to examine the procedure associated to the Monumental Flag in its totality,” it stated.

The department spun the outrage towards the job as “an event of South Africa’s dynamic democracy”.