Cape streets to be renamed

Published Jul 1, 2010

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By Babalo Ndenze

Metro Writer

Cape Town could finally have new street names by next June following a decision to revisit the controversial issue.

But Premier Helen Zille has warned the renaming process could "blow the city apart" and would have to be managed carefully.

An old report on the controversial street renaming, that has been "gathering dust in the mayor's office" for about three years, recommends that 31 streets should be renamed, from the "divisive" Hans Strydom Avenue in Cape Town to Hendrik Verwoerd Drive in Panorama.

The report also recommends that the NY names, which stand for Native Yard, in some of the city's townships be changed, but through a separate process.

The report, by an independent panel of experts headed by former political activist Rhoda Kadalie, was withdrawn from council in 2008. The city had already finalised the process in which the public had been asked to submit name proposals. A total of 238 submissions were received over 22 days before the process closed on May 11, 2007.

Some of the street name changes recommended by the panel are:

- Hendrik Verwoerd Drive (Panorama) to Beyers Naude Drive.

- Hertzog Boulevard (Cape Town) to Nelson Mandela Boulevard.

- Jan Smuts Drive to Dullah Omar Drive, but only from Athlone to Strandfontein Road.

- Jip de Jager Street to Dulcie September Drive.

- Hans Strydom Avenue (Cape Town) to Albert Luthuli Avenue.

- Coen Steytler Avenue (Cape Town) to Walter Sisulu Avenue,

- Oswald Pirow Street (Foreshore) to Christiaan Barnard Drive.

The report noted that there were other streets honouring Hendrik Verwoerd in the city and that in Joburg the same name change had taken place "with little opposition".

"Oswald Pirow's position during the former government was not acceptable to the underprivileged coloureds and blacks, similar to that of Hendrik Verwoerd. The sensitivity of Oswald Pirow's name in the Jewish community was also noted. Hans Strydom was a key architect of the apartheid system, thus a divisive symbol," read the report.

ANC chief whip Peter Gabriel said this week the council had withdrawn the item because the Democratic Alliance had not wanted to make its constituency unhappy before last year's national and provincial elections.

"We challenged even the manner in which the committee was constituted. We never got a comprehensive report. This report made the necessary recommendations to council, but the DA decided not to pursue the matter and it has been gathering dust in the mayor's office ever since. They were scared of the backlash from their own supporters who are not in support of change," Gabriel said.

He said there were also a number of issues the ANC was not happy about in the final report. He said the recommendation that Jan Smuts Drive be changed to Dullah Omar Drive only when it reached Klipfontein Road in Athlone, a coloured area, smacked of racism and had offended some people.

But Zille, who was mayor at the time, said the matter had been withdrawn because it had the potential to polarise city residents.

She said the process of "inclusive street and place naming is very much alive and on the front burner".

"As soon as council resumes after the recess, I have been informed that a task team will meet to refine the criteria. Over the past five months I have regularly contacted councillor Owen Kinahan, who has been tasked with driving this project, for progress reports, because this originated during my tenure as mayor and I wanted to see it drawn to a successful conclusion," Zille said.

She said the matter would be far advanced by next year's elections, and she hoped the process would bring people together rather than drive them apart.

"The problem with the past process was that it was creating polarisation and conflict instead of unity. I would have recast such a process whenever it occurred, before or after an election. It had to be reconceptualised. The need to

restart the process was not the fault of the committee that was investigating name changes. It was a result of the fact that the criteria were not sufficiently clear, and therefore resulted in unintended consequences," said Zille.

She said street renaming had the potential to "blow the city apart", as in Durban.

This month, Durban High Court Judge David Ntshangase ruled against an attempt by the DA and IFP to overturn the city's street renaming process. The parties had sought to set aside the council's decision to rename 100 streets, roads and highways, and two buildings.

"We need to create a process of unity. We should focus on naming rather than renaming," said Zille.

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