LETTER: Let’s give new, old names equal status in the spirit of Madiba

Port Elizabeth, now named Gqeberha. Picture: Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism/Twitter

Port Elizabeth, now named Gqeberha. Picture: Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism/Twitter

Published Mar 6, 2021

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by JS de Lange

I am referring to the recent name change of Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage (Port Elizabeth no more: Welcome to Gqeberha)

Who is going to pay for the changes?

The taxpayer. No way.

Let the overpaid counsellors and the political party who proposes this pay.

Rather provide toilets and clean running water to schools with money allocated to name changes.

Many places in the world have two or more names.

Given the following examples. Ireland in both English and Irish: Dublin and Baile Atha Cliath, Cork and Cobhn.

Belgium in both Dutch and French: Brussel and Bruxelles, Antwerpen and Anvers, Luik and Liege.

The Netherlands in both Dutch and Friesian: Leeuwarden and Ljouwert, Harlingen and Harms.

In Spain in both Spanish and Basque: Bilboa and Bilbo, San Sebastian and Donostia.

In Finland in both Finnish and Swedish: Helsinki and Helsingfors, Turku and Åbo.

Minorities are respected in these countries, even though they were in conflict in the past.

I met a Serbian once who hated Catholics (Croats), being Orthodox.

Croats do not want to see anything in the Cyrilic alphabet, even though Croatian and Serbian are very close.

Is South Africa any different?

Fish Hoek and Vishoek, Cape Town and Kaapstad and iKapa are officially recognised as official names.

One could add the Khoisan name of Cape Town: //Hui!Gaeb to that list.

It was formally agreed to call the town by the original name and the greater municipality by a new name, which does not create confusion and at no great cost.

Examples are Pretoria and Tswane, Witbank and Emalehlane.

But why can we not have two or more names Pretoria and Tswane, Witbank and Emalehlane, Pietersburg and Polokwane, Warmbad and Bela Bela, Grahamstown and Makanda to name a few.

So, Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage can have the new names as well on an equal footing.

After all we are a rainbow nation, this was Nelson Mandela's vision.

* JS de Lange, Stellenbosch.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

Cape Argus

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