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Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Mayor Nqaba Bhanga has urged residents to voice their objections to the name Gqeberha, directly to Minister Nathi Mthethwa.
In terms of legislation, there are 30 days from the date of gazetting the names (22 February in this case) in which to submit objections.
In a written response on Tuesday, Mthethwa told Bhanga that he gazetted the name changes after his office was satisfied that all the processes in terms of the South African Geographical Names Act 1998 were followed.
Nelson Mandela Bay Metro mayor Nqaba Bhanga is continuing his fight against the renaming, among others, of Port Elizabeth to Gqeberha - he has called on residents to join him in voicing their objections directly to Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa.
A weekend-long celebration to launch the new name of Port Elizabeth - Gqeberha - starts at noon.
The Khoi and San activist behind the new name changes in the Nelson Mandela Bay, Christian Martin, has pulled out all the stops for the event.
Martin s event coincides with a bid by the Nelson Mandela Bay mayor to have the name and other name changes reversed.
Christian Martin, one of three men who successfully petitioned for the renaming of Port Elizabeth, the town s airport, and Uitenhage, is inviting people of what is now known as Gqeberha to a weekend-long celebratory launch.
The carnival-style event launch will start at noon on Friday in front of the city hall where a 5m X 1.5m banner displaying the name Gqeberha - Port Elizabeth s new name - will fly up in the sky.
It has been a tumultuous time for name changes in South Africa: Port Elizabeth has become Gqeberha, Uitenhage is now known as Kariega, King William s Town has been renamed to Qonce, Maclear has changed to Nqanqarhu, Katkop is now known as Ngqayi, Mfabantu has become Khohlombeni, and Berlin is now called Ntabozuko.
Some of these new names are real tongue-twisters, with many native South Africans finding it almost unpronounceable (not to mention tourists to the country). Meanwhile, Haval South Africa has
launched an online teaser campaign for what essentially is the replacement model for its H2 compact SUV, now named Jolion.
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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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Nqaba Bhanga has written to Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa to request a reversal with regard to Port Elizabeth changing to Gqeberha.
The Nelson Mandela Bay mayor believes the new name doesn t have meaning.
More than 48 000 people have signed an online petition for Cyril Ramaphosa to reverse the gazetted new name of the coastal Eastern Cape city.
Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Nqaba Bhanga has written to Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa to request that he reverse the new name of Gqeberha back to Port Elizabeth - because the new name doesn t have meaning.
This was confirmed by Bhanga s spokesperson, Morne Steyn, on Monday.