A New South Wales council is set to replace an apartheid-era South African flag after community backlash and pleas from the country's officials.
The flag has flown in Cooma since 1959, along with nearly 30 others in the Avenue of Flags, which recognises the nationalities of those who worked on the Snowy Hydro Scheme.
Its presence in the town has been the topic of controversy for years and last month the South African High Commission reignited calls for it to be removed.
At the time, the Snowy Monaro Regional Council stood firm on its decision to fly the old flag, stating it reflected a "time in history".
But Mayor Narelle Davis said the council had since agreed to replace the flag after learning a pre-amalgamated council made the call to do so seven years ago.
"The decision [to replace the flag] had been made ... back in 2015 but it had not been followed through," she said.
"Because we amalgamated post-2015, that history was lost."
Cr Davis said council staff did some investigating in collaboration with a local newspaper after the issue was raised in September.
She said research found the former Cooma-Monaro Shire Council had met with the South African High Commission in 2013 on the same issue, and decided two years later to remove the flag.
However, the decision was not enacted at the time and the records from the amalgamated Snowy Monaro Shire Council did not provide that information.
"Because a decision had already been made by council in 2015, we made a decision just to action it and not to delay it any further," Cr Davis said.
"It's a decision that should have happened, the flag should have changed in 2015."
Timing questioned
The Snowy Monaro Regional Council said it took down the flag last Friday and had ordered the current South African flag to be erected as soon as it was received.
South African writer and advocate Sisonke Msimang welcomed the decision to change the flag, but questioned the timing.
"I'm glad that they've rectified what was clearly a terrible symbol but it still begs lots of questions as to why this wasn't implemented before," she said.
"Why, in 1994, when South Africa achieved its freedom and defeated the apartheid regime, wasn't it changed then?"
Beginning in 1948, the apartheid era was defined by racist segregation policies that divided South Africa.
When the policy ended in 1994, the country adopted a new flag to reflect unity among its people.
Ms Msimang said she hoped the general public was aware of that history, and that the Snowy Monaro Regional Council's decision to the remove the old flag came from the heart.
"The process matters," she said.
"I'm glad that the offensive symbol is gone but it's important to recognise that a sudden change often speaks to pressure rather than a genuine change of heart."
The South African High Commission denied an interview request but told the ABC it was consulted as part of this latest decision.
'We're appreciative of the courteous and constructive manner in which the council is approaching this issue," a spokesperson said.
A number of the flags remaining on the Avenue of Flags are no longer current, including flags from other now non-existent nations like Czechoslovakia.
The Snowy Monaro Regional Council is yet to comment on whether any further changes will occur.
