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BIG NAME CHANGES ON THE HORIZON FOR THE EASTERN CAPE

Port Elizabeth? Don’t you mean Gqeberha?

Oh, and if you’re looking for tickets to fly to East London, you might have to start searching for King Phalo first.

The Eastern Cape is going through a big name change as several cities and two of its airports are officially changing their names.

The name changes were Gazetted by Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa on Tuesday.

According to Business Insider, the major new names are:

  • Port Elizabeth airport is now Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport.
  • East London airport is now the King Phalo Airport.
  • Port Elizabeth itself is now Gqeberha.
  • Uitenhage is now Kariega.
  • King William’s Town is now Qonce.
  • Maclear is now Nqanqarhu.

The name change of the city of Port Elizabeth, located in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropol, came with some opposition when the name changes were suggested last year already.

Port Elizabeth’s new name, Gqeberha, is a Xhosa word used to refer to the Baakens River that flows through the Eastern Cape city.

Meanwhile, as the news has spread among South Africans, The Kiffness has added some humour to the story with a funny Twitter post:

Watch the SABC News video below for more on the renaming of the Eastern Cape cities and airports.

Image credits: The South African and Twitter.



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