The latest: Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said Cabinet approved the 100m flagpole at Freedom Park in Pretoria in February as a project that would “bring South Africans together”.

A closer look: “It was not meant to tear us apart,” the minister told News24 after the arts and culture department announced it would review the project, following public outrage.

The details: When Cabinet approved the project, there was no determination on the cost of it, Gungubele said. “The financial issues were to be separate. Cabinet was not involved with that,” he added.