City loses battle over street names
Residents are relieved that the old street names in parts of the city may soon make a return to adorn the streets.
Andrew Ngozo
News that Pretoria’s old street names might make a comeback was welcomed by residents approached on Tuesday.
They said there had never been a genuine need for streets to be renamed.
“Why did they have to change the names in the first place? I still refer to call streets by their old names because I do not know the new ones,” said resident Nqobile Dlamini.
“Frankly, I think it was a waste of time and resources to change them in the first place.”
Her sentiment was echoed by Wendell Greenland.
“I prefer the old names. It was pointless to change them in the first place. I am not used to the new names because it is an old habit,” he said.
“The old street names simply stuck with me. I am happy that the old names will be coming back. Hopefully they stay for good.”
Aserie Ndlovu said that it did not [really] matter what the streets were called.
“There are more important bread and butter issues that must be dealt with. What will the city do about the high unemployment rate, rampant hunger and drug abuse? Those are issues that need to be dealt with as soon as possible,” he said.
These comments were made in the wake of AfriForum‘s fourth win in four years‚ against the Tshwane metro in the battle for retaining historical street names in Pretoria.
AfriForum said two judges, Mandisa Maya and Nambitha Dambuza, sitting in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, rejected the metro’s application for special leave to appeal with costs.
They ruled that the council had been unable to demonstrate that grounds existed for such an appeal.
In his response to the outcome of the appeal‚ AfriForum lawyer Willie Spies said he was more than overjoyed with the victory.
“Our endeavours for the promotion of mutual respect for the heritage of cultural minorities in South Africa have not been in vain,” he said.
Spies added that international best practice allows for the recognition of more than one place name in order to ensure that nobody is impaired or excluded. “Therefore, there is no reason why this recipe cannot be followed here,” Spies said.
The court battle regarding the name changes of 25 streets in Pretoria and surrounding areas has been raging since April 2012 when the mayor‚ Kgosientso Ramokgopa‚ announced that the street names would be changed to honour several struggle heroes.
AfriForum said‚ that the metro‚ however‚ then failed to follow its own revised policy on street name changes [when] renaming streets such as Church Street‚ Schoeman Street‚ Vermeulen Street‚ Andries Street and Zambezi Drive. “Contrary to its own policy‚ the council failed to consult ward committees throughout the metropolis.”
In April 2013‚ Judge Bill Prinsloo granted an urgent order to AfriForum‚ prohibiting the metro from going ahead with the removal of the old names‚ pending the outcome of a review process previously launched by AfriForum.
At the time, the court ruled that the old names should be reinstated within 60 days. This urgent order was ignored said AfriForum as the metro went ahead with the removal of signage with the historic street names.
The city did not reinstate the old names as it had turned to the Supreme Court of Appeal where it voiced the concern that putting back the old names would be costly and argued that the new names were now in full use.
The court then said that the old names were hastily removed even though Tshwane was aware that there was a legal battle in that regard.
In June this year, the High Court in Pretoria rejected the metro’s appeal against the interdict. In their judgment‚ the judges were highly critical of they labelled as the metro’s disrespectful behaviour towards the pending legal proceedings and the interdict that had eventually been granted.
“The unsuccessful application for special leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal by the metropolitan council counts as the fourth court success for AfriForum in its quest for the protection of the historical heritage and cultural rights of minorities in Pretoria,” said Spies.
In April next year, AfriForum will ask the court to review the decision by the city to replace various old street names with new ones.
Also read:
Street name saga to return to court
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