TOWN NAME CHANGES AHEAD FOR SOUTH AFRICA

Four towns located in the Eastern Cape will soon undergo name changes if the Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Art and Culture had their way.

The Department announced their plans in May this year and also said that it plans to publish three national gazettes detailing the name changes in the second, third and fourth quarter of the year.

The four towns in the spotlight are Graaff-Reinet with a suggested new name of Robert Sobukwe or Fred Hufkie; Adendorp will change to Kwa Mseki Bishop Limba; Aberdeen will change to Camdeboo; and Nieu-Bethesda’s suggested new name is Kwa Noheleni.

To authorise the name change of a town, the local provincial department must be in contact with the South African Geographical Names Council.

News24 reports that the Council is an advisory body that facilitates name changes by consulting with communities to advise the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture. Name changes can apply to cities, towns, village, rivers, mountains and various other geographical features.

Eastern Cape is the province that’s undergone the most name changes during the last few years. In fact, 103 geographical name changes have occurred in the province since 2019.

The suggestions have caused major backlash from including AfriForum who argues that the proposed renaming of these four historic towns would be an unjustified expenditure of taxpayers’ money.

Image credit: South African