Pretoria - Members of the EFF joined the name-change street fight on Wednesday night by spraying paint over the signs of the old “Church Street” that had been put up by AfriForum Youth.
The “fighters” accused AfriForum Youth of being hell-bent on bringing back the symbols of apartheid and colonialism by reinstating the old name of the street.
The signs were put up by AfriForum Youth on Sunday night on Helen Joseph, WF Nkomo and Stanza Bopape streets, known as Church Street before several street names were changed by the city council in 2012. AfriForum added the signs bearing the old names in Sotho, Afrikaans and English.
Tshwane EFF regional deputy chairman Moafrika Mabogoana said by spray-painting the signs, they were showing a determination to fight against any symbol that resembled apartheid and colonialism.
“We believe that for the past 21 years, the ANC surrendered a fight against colonialism and apartheid symbols,” he said.
“The defacing of the street names was part of the bigger struggle against oppression and domination that white people had imposed on their black countrymen,” he said.
“This is part of a bigger struggle to bring the dignity of a black man. We want the black people to understand that they are no longer inferior to any group or the minority called the Boers. We want them to understand that black people are not sub-humans,” he said.
There was nothing wrong with what the EFF had done, he said.
“We are demonstrating against AfriForum that what they did was wrong,” he said.
But AfriForum Youth leader Ian Cameron said: “It is clear that the EFF remains a radical blacks-only political party.
“Their actions prove to citizens that there is no place for Afrikaner heritage in this country.”
He said the EFF had demonstrated that none of the old names, such as Church Street, were important to it or the ANC.
“It seems the EFF can only debate with red paint, and that nation-building does not feature on their one-sided agenda.
“We maintain that the heritage of all cultures in South Africa should be protected, instead of the racial hatred that the EFF and ANC now fuel,” he said.
He defended the action by AfriForum members, saying it was aimed to broaden mutual acknowledgement and respect for one another’s culture and heritage.
The fight over the street names was staged amid the ongoing legal battle between the city and AfriForum.
The city lost its objection to the high court order that both old and new street names had to be displayed. It appealed against the decision and lost, and the matter is now heading to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
At least 27 street names in Pretoria’s central business district were changed in early 2012 to reflect a shared heritage. Earlier, in 2007, the council had passed a resolution on changing identified street names.
Blessing Manale, spokesman for mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa, said: “We believe that other parties have not risen above political interests in this matter in the same way they have approached the #StatutesMustFall debacle.”
He said the city did not condone the actions of either. “We believe a sober and mediated process led by a democratically elected council can resolve the challenges of the depiction of a biased history of our city and country.”
Pretoria News