Cape Town - Business owners on Hendrik Verwoerd Drive have had mixed reaction to news that the road will soon be renamed.
One business owner told the Cape Argus on Thursday said he was worried about the cost of having to change company letterheads and business cards, while another said he was glad it was being changed after so long.
The road, in Panorama, is named after the former SA prime minister often referred to as the “architect of apartheid”.
The road will be renamed Uys Krige Drive, after the Afrikaans poet. Herman Coetzee, who runs a pharmacy in the road, said the name change was unnecessary and that it would “cost him a mini fortune” to inform suppliers and clients of the new address.
“I don’t know how much exactly it will cost but we have a big customer base and to notify all our suppliers will not only be time consuming but a big waste of money,” Coetzee said.
One of the most expensive things would be changing their address in the phonebook. “To change everything will take us about six months.”
But Michael Bagraim, president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce, said:
“The financial damage won’t be as bad as it would have been 10 years ago, these days it’s cheap for them to update and print it from their computers at their workplaces.”
He also said things like maps were updated regularly so there would be little cost there as well.
“A lot of heat is being made about the name changes and how much it will cost, but this is all temporary,” Bagraim said.
Another business owner, dentist Pieter Beyers, said he was happy about the name change.
“We can’t stick to using his (Verwoerd’s) name in this day and age.
“Why should we have a street to honour a man that hurt so many people for such a long time?” Beyers asked.
He said he was not as worried about the cost of changing business cards and company letterheads.
“It’s just one batch of cards we will have to make, it’s not a big deal.”
Bagraim said businesses should applaud mayor Patricia de Lille for consulting the public before renaming certain streets. “It was a very public debate,” he said.
Cape Argus