LISTEN: Nathi Mthethwa defends R22m flag project
Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa has defended government’s R22.5 million flag project amid mounting criticism.
Mthethwa briefed Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture on Tuesday.
The minister defended the proposed flag monument, which is set to be erected at the Freedom Park Heritage Site in Pretoria, saying only R5 million will be spent during the 2022/23 financial year.
Government has come under fire for the amount of money spent on what some believe to be a vanity project while many South Africans are battle to survive amid rising inflation and a stubbornly high unemployment rate.
But Mthethwa told MPs the project is part of the renewal of the heritage landscape and a symbol of unity and democracy.
"We are memorialising our democracy and we are building this monumental flag which will be there forever as a constant teacher and informer of society about this very important symbol of our democracy,” he said.
“It is also a marker of a break with colonial and apartheid pasts, it carries and epitomises democratic values of non-racism, non-sexism, and non-tribalism and other values of our democracy."
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