While the long-standing contentious plan moves at a snail’s pace, the provincial government is determined to push for the renaming of East London in the 2024-2025 financial year.
New sport, recreation, arts and culture MEC Sibulele Ngongo made the announcement during her recent policy speech, though there have been no clear time frames to conclude the renaming process so far.
Delivering her address in the provincial legislature in Bhisho, Ngongo said the name change project was aimed at decolonisation and preserving heritage.
“Ngonyaka ka 2024/2025, iidolophu eziza kuba namagama amatsha ziquka i-Monti, Aberdeen ne Colchester, ukukhanya ambalwa [In 2024/2025, towns to be renamed include East London, Aberdeen and Colchester, just to name a few],” she said to the applause of her audience.
However, Ngongo did not share details about the push to rename East London and the other towns.
The Dispatch reached out to the Eastern Cape Provincial Geographical Names Committee to ascertain the progress of the much-publicised East London renaming process.
Committee chair Christian Martin said the provincial department of sport, recreation, arts and culture, through the provincial name change committee, had made a request to meet the Buffalo City Metro council to present the list of proposed geographical place names within the metro.
“Changing of geographical place names is a lengthy process and it begins when a proposed name is submitted for consideration to the committee,” he said.
“The committee then presents the proposed name to the relevant municipality, and thereafter present it to the concerned community.
“This process involves extensive consultation with public and stakeholder participation to ensure there is sufficient consensus on the proposed name change.”
The presentation of the proposed geographical place name changes within BCM is yet to be made to the BCM council.
“The committee is awaiting a response on the council meeting wherein to present the [proposed] place names,” Martin said.
“There are no public hearings planned as yet.
“The process, as outlined in the SAGNC Act and SAGNC [the SA National Geographical Names Committee] handbook, dictates that once an application has been received, it must first be tabled to the relevant council before it can be presented for consultation to the public and affected communities.
“Therefore, it is only when the proposed names have been presented to the BCM council that the committee can embark on a public and stakeholder consultation process.”
It is the mandate of the provincial committee to receive and process all submitted name change proposals, and as such it would consider any additional names that maybe submitted.
Asked about Ngongo’s announcement and time frames of the proposed East London name change process, Martin said the completion of the process depended on consultation.
“Each consultative process differs to the next and it is dependent on consultation with relevant and affected stakeholders,” he said.
“However, the committee tries as best as possible to expedite the process.
“Changing of place names is an open democratic process that is subject to extensive consultation of members of society, stakeholders and social partners as stated and the committee is not in a position to determine the exact time frames for each process.
“However, the committee tries as best as possible to expedite the process.
“This depends on the consultative process and the views of the public and relevant stakeholders in line with the criteria as set out in the SAGNC Act and SAGNC handbook.”
The renaming process had previously sparked a fierce debate, with critics pointing out that funds spent on renaming could be used to speed up service delivery.
But Martin was adamant that changing place names was necessary.
“Standardisation of place names is a service delivery imperative with a mandate to transform the cultural heritage landscape through the standardisation of place names,” he said.
“It falls within the umbrella of objective 14 of NDP [national development plan], which is nation building and social cohesion, the role of DSRAC.”
Monti and KuGompo had been the only names bandied about as authorities pondered the renaming of East London.
The move to consider KuGompo hit a snag because there is already a settlement called Gompo.
A proposal to rename the suburb after Clements Kadalie had been put forward.
Martin revealed the committee had also received proposals to rename East London’s main roads.
Oxford Street could be renamed King Rharhabe Road or Adam Kok Street and Settlers Way Road could become Steve Biko Drive.
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