Name changes for streets and areas in South Africa can improve service delivery: ANC
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The ANC’s Free State branch says that municipalities should intensify their programmes of naming and renaming as a way of speeding up service delivery.
In a briefing on its Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting on Thursday (4 March), the group said this process was also important for security reasons, including response by emergency services.
The branch said that communities are directly involved with the naming and renaming of public assets, and these programmes should be used to their fullest.
“The failure to name our areas – in particular, streets – have impacted at times the provision of certain services, such as timeous response by emergency services. This process will continue to buttress the people’s dignity and (security),” it said.
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The Eastern Cape Geographical Names Committee defended its decision to approve the name Gqeberha for Port Elizabeth, despite the fact that, at the time of the proposal, there was a Gqeberha High School in the same city.
The committee previously said the proposed name for East London - Gompo, was rejected because there is a township in East London named Gompo. There’s more to this story Subscribe to News24 and get access to our
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Port Elizabeth ‘had other options’ apart from Gqeberha
Whereas Nelson Mandela City drew an underwhelming response, social media users had been clamouring for the use of iBhayi earlier this week, as it remains a popular colloquial reference for the city (translating to ‘The Bay’).
If there was really no choice to rename, I think that the proper isiXhosa name for Port Elizabeth iBhayi would have been a better pick than Gqeberha. Levi (@UBGK12) February 24, 2021
The committee’s spokesperson, Andile Nduna, explained how the process for renaming a location in South Africa works. He has denied that the public wasn’t consulted properly about Gqeberha, saying there were ‘fair opportunities’.
Port Elizabeth to Gqeberha – more name changes will come: minister
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Arts and Culture minister Nathi Mthetwa has announced a number of name changes in the Eastern Cape, including the city of Port Elizabeth which will now be known as Gqeberha.
In a statement on Thursday (25 February), the minister said that the transformation of the naming landscape in South Africa is ‘a critical component of the heritage landscape as a whole’.
“There was a need for the name changes as this is part of a government programme to transform South Africa’s heritage landscape. The names of places we live in reflect the identity and cultural heritage of the people of South Africa,” he said.