The R22m monumental flag project budget should be used on sport development and creating work for destitute artists, members of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts & Culture told Minister Nathi Mthethwa yesterday.

The department briefed the MPs on the controversial flag project which has drawn widespread criticism for its price tag, reports The Citizen.

The Minister said the flag monument, set to be constructed in Pretoria, was part of the department’s projects meant to promote culture and heritage.

He said his Ministry has also partnered with the taxi industry and the Department of Basic Education to promote the country’s flag and teach school children about what it symbolises and the country’s history.

According to deputy DG Vusithemba Ndima, the project was commissioned three years ago.

Ndima said a feasibility study for the project cost R1.7m and was done by aDelta Built Environment Consultants. He would not confirm media reports that R5m has already been spent on the project before construction even began.

DA and EFF MPs questioned how the ‘flag on a long pole’ would create jobs and contribute to economic growth, as stated by the officials.

‘I am questioning the value for money for this. Unemployment is high, we need to reprioritise these issues over a flag,’ said DA MP Tsepo Mhlongo.

Ringo Madlingozi, an EFF MP and musician said the flag was not urgent and that some of the money could be re-directed to artists facing hardships.

Full report in The Citizen