EXPLAINER | R22 million to build a 100-metre glow-in-the-dark SA flag pole: What you need to know

• The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture courted controversy when it announced plans to spend R22 million to build a 100m flag pole. 
• Commentators have described it as "tone deaf", especially at a time when many artists are still struggling as a result of lockdown regulations imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• News24 looks at what the flag project entails, how the department has defended it, and how opposition parties and unions have responded. 

Plans by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture to build a 100m flag pole at Freedom Park in Pretoria have been described as a waste of money and insensitive to the number of struggling artists in South Africa.

The department announced the "monumental" flag project when it detailed its annual performance plan for the 2022/2023 year to the National Assembly last week. 

But commentators described it as a "tone-deaf" scheme, especially since the department's Covid-19 artists relief scheme was marred by controversy.

News24 looks at what the flag project entails, how the department has defended it and how opposition parties and unions have responded: 

What is the flag project? 

In its annual performance plan, the department said it embarked on a process to conceptualise, design and ultimately, install a "national monumental flag" with a flagpole that will be more than 100 metres in height.

 "The flag is the symbol of nationhood and common identity of the people in a particular country. The flag, as the brand image of the country, needs to be highly recognised by the citizens. Rendering a national flag as a monument of democracy goes a long way in making it highly recognised by the citizens," the department said. 

"This has a potential to unite people as it becomes a symbol of unity and common identity. The project is envisaged to contribute towards nation-building and social cohesion." 

A feasibility study of the flag was scheduled for the 2020/2021 year to inform the brief for the flag.

"R5 million is budgeted in 2022/23 for the site-specific geotechnical studies, including the environmental impact assessment and other tests and applications that will be required prior to construction," the department's performance plan read.

"In 2023/24, R17 million is allocated for the installation of the monumental flag". 

How has the department defended the move? 

After the project sparked controversy, the director of The SA Bureau of Heraldry and National Herald of South Africa, Thembinkosi Mabaso, told CapeTalk the country's flag needed to be promoted because it was of no use having a flag when "people do not love it, resonate with it or understand its particular role.". 

He said the flag monument would align with government plans to "renew the heritage landscape" and added that there was no monument to the flag.

Meanwhile, arts and culture department deputy director-general Vusithemba Ndima told 702 it would not just be a pole with a flag but would "have aesthetics [and] will be beautiful".

Ndima added that the R22 million was just an estimate of how much the project could end up costing. They do not know how much it will cost to maintain it. 

Speaking to eNCA, Sports, Arts, and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa said the flag would help to "deepen social cohesion" in South Africa. 

"Some years ago, the department did research, and the research findings were that the majority of the people in South Africa are not familiar with the national symbols, and because of that, we...embarked on a variety of programmes," Mthethwa said. 

"During the day [the flag] would be seen, and at night you would also be able to see it because it lights at night, because the education has to be continuous, both at day and at night." 

He said the construction of the flag would help the steel industry because of the length of the pole. 

"The value will outlive us." 

How have opposition parties responded? 

The DA, EFF and labour union Cosatu, which is an ANC alliance partner, have slammed the project as a waste of money. 

"On the contrary, it is an insult to millions of struggling athletes and artists who have been receiving very little or no support from the department after their lives and livelihoods were destroyed by the Covid-19 lockdown," the party said. 

The EFF called the project gross and wasteful, which is "a clear exhibition of a department that does not know what to do with its budget".

"This is a useless, fruitless and misguided use of the taxpayers' money that must be rejected by all logical and rational people."

"This is an insult to workers and South Africans in general. The same department failed to pay thousands of struggling artists, musicians and sports professionals who were unable to work during Covid-19 lockdown," Palma said.