Gqeberha name change vital to reversing colonial legacy

As the debate over the renaming of certain towns in the Eastern Cape rages on, there has been a high-level discussion about whom the places should be named after.

Some believe that not only struggle heroes should be acknowledged, but also indigenous traditional leaders who fought colonial oppression and land dispossession before the national liberation struggle even commenced.

Many streets in Tshwane and Johannesburg have names of struggle heroes and the main streets in Bloemfontein were renamed after Raymond Mhlaba, Nelson Mandela, Bram Fischer, Kenneth Kaunda and Charlotte Maxeke etc.

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Names derived from traditional leaders are the King Shaka International Airport in Durban, the newly renamed King Phalo Airport in East London and Chief Dawid Stuurman in Port Elizabeth (sorry Gqeberha).

Phalo was a Xhosa king and Stuurman a Khoisan traditional leader.

There has been an unfinished debate about whether Cape Town International Airport should be named for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela or Krotoa, a Khoisan princess.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Buffalo City has vowed to opposed the renaming of East London and its airport because the process is expensive and the money could be spent to improve people’s lives.

But there were opposing views on social media this week.

On Facebook, one woman, who could not be named for professional reasons, insisted the changing of names was not a priority in the Eastern Cape as its people needed basics, such as water, jobs and toilets.

READ MORE: EFF on SA’s new name changes: Remove apartheid statues and ‘Die Stem’ from national anthem

“This vanity project…won’t improve their province or matric results. Our government needs to take people seriously,” she said.

Nevertheless, both sides of debate agreed about the need to change the colonial names.

Cultural and heritage researcher Dr F George Tsibani said renaming places was necessary to reverse the colonial and apartheid legacy and to recognise the value of indigenous heritage and culture.

“The renaming is long overdue for cementing unity…by embracing the rich heritage and meaning of original names of our beautiful landscapes.”

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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