By Zukile Majova
Durban will not be included on the list of names that are being reviewed by a municipal committee set to rid the city of any semblance of its apartheid past.
Municipal Manager Mike Sutcliffe assured ratepayers that the name Durban was not on the list of names that were up for review as it had proved to be good for the international marketing of the city.
"We are not about to descend into a tussle over a name change for this city. There are no considerations at the moment as the mayor (Obed Mlaba), who has been quite explicit on the matter, has said Durban is an international brand."
Concerns over whether the city's name would be changed have come amid the furore over Pretoria's imminent name change to Tshwane, its traditional Tswana name.
Sutcliffe's comments come in the wake of a council invitation to the people of Durban to suggest new names for the city's streets after the council's Racism and Gender Committee suggested Point Road be re-named Mahatma Gandhi Street.
Now a new team, headed by Council Speaker Nomusa Dube, has called for the public to submit, with motivations, new street names across the CBD.
"We are receiving interesting feedback, with some people suggesting the streets should be named after famous politicians, national fauna and flora, musicians and sports heroes.
"But the only names that will be considered will be those that unite and represent us as a people," said Dube.
She said the actual renaming process was expected to start next month.