The Tshwane metro is in the bid to rename the South African State Theatre after the South African Anti-Apartheid activist Lillian Ngoyi.
Metro spokesperson Blessing Manale said on Tuesday the executive mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa is fully behind the proposal for the renaming the State Theatre.
“However the decision to rename the theatre lies with the minister of arts and culture and the city will make such a representation to him after a full report to council,” Manale said.
Metro believes there is no precedent in limiting the names of arts facilities exclusively to the arts practices, as is the case in many theatres across the country.
Manale said they do not see it as a contradiction to name the theatre after a person not from the arts fraternity, as they see the theatre more than just an arts space, but a feature of social cohesion and cultural diversity in South Africa broadly.
Metro also believes the arts industry requires more than just symbolic endorsement but actual support in terms of production funding, international exposure, practice facilities and youth development initiatives – a programme the city regards as a priority in the next five years.
If all go according to the metro’s plan the State Theatre will be the third structure to be named after Ngoyi in the city centre. The city has renamed former Van der Walt Street after her and the Lillian Ngoyi Memorial where the Women Living Monument is being built. Ngoyi is remembered as a fearless leader.
Together with Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, Bertha Gxowa and Albertina Sisulu, they led the protest of 20 000 women to the Union Buildings in Arcadia, Pretoria, on 9 August 1952.
The protest against the apartheid government, requiring women to carry passbooks as part of the pass laws, started at the memorial site in the city centre.
Today, 9 August is commemorated as Women’s Day in the country.
Ngoyi was the first woman to be elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress (ANC).
She was also elected president of the ANC women’s league.
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