Cape Town – The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has expressed its outrage over plans by the Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa to spend R22 million on a national monument flag project.
According to BusinessTech, the department said the gigantic flag will serve as a national landmark and a tourist attraction.
The flag will be fitted at a cost of R17 million, with geotechnical studies valued at R5 million, the report said.
“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. This has the potential to unite people as it becomes a symbol of unity and common identity,” the report quoted the department as saying in a statement.
But in a statement Cosatu said the department’s plan was absurd, pointless, senseless and ridiculous.
“The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) calls on the South African government to scrap the Department of Arts, Culture and Sports’ ludicrous and absurd plan to blow about R22 million on a 100-metre flag monument. This vanity project is pointless and the idea that it will attract tourists is senseless and ridiculous.
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“Many people around the world are being squeezed by the rising cost of living and they do not have the money to go around looking at flag monuments. South Africa has enough tourist attractions and does not need another inept government department to waste millions of rands on a misguided project to attract tourists,” said Cosatu.
The union joins the growing outrage from the public and political parties such as ActionSA, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Freedom Front Plus (FF+) to name just a few.
Mthethwa, on the other hand, has defended his department’s plan, saying that it’s his department’s mandate to create among other things monuments and the flag is a monument for democracy, The Citizen reported.
“It’s the mandate of the department to create among other things monuments and this flag is a monument for democracy in this country and we make no bones about that… I think we must clarify this thing that we have an obligation to transform the heritage landscape and will do just that,” the report quoted Mthethwa as saying.
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Compiled by Sinothando Siyolo
