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All school uniform should bear the South African flag by 2017: Lesufi

Parents will not have to buy new uniform to conform to the proposal of having a national flag on school uniform by 2017.

Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said that he would like to see all school uniform bearing the national flag on them.

"My wish is to ensure that from 2017 all school uniforms must have our SA Flag just like national sporting teams," he tweeted.

MEC's spokesperson Oupa Bodibe said that they have noticed the panic caused with parents who might think that they will have to start saving for new uniform.

"We also must caution that people shouldn't panic to think that this means they must go buy new uniform. If your child already has uniform you only have to sew in the flag but going forward we want this to be standard on all school uniform," he said.

Explaining the motive behind this, Bodibe said that they believe this will create awareness and promote national symbols.

"We've opened a new school, the Curtis Nkondo school and one of the things that happened there is that the flag was part of the uniform, so they had the scarf and they've got a badge with the flag. We come 22 years later to promote common identity, to promote and support our national symbols."

Bodibe said they have also thought of where the badge will be placed.

"There are various ways, you can just put a badge with a flag which is normally what the schools do anyway for awards, so you don't necessarily have to buy a new entire uniform.

"This flag will be on a strategic place on the uniform. For example, if you take a school jersey, it will just be on the chest area or pocket and that's it," he said adding that engagements with the school governing bodies and manufacturers will be taking place soon.

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