Ngwako Modjadji
The Eastern Cape is the next province in line to consider a name change, now that the Northern Province has announced its new name, Limpopo.
A task team is looking into possibilities. Among them are: Kwantu, Robert Sobukwe, KwaXhosa and Kei.
North West province Premier Popo Molefe says his province is “too poor” to consider a name change. He argues it would involve enormous costs for the government and business.
Northern Province Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi however dismisses the notion that his province’s new name will involve prohibitive costs. He says: “You don’t do things overnight. One could give businesses a grace period of six to eight years.”
Car owners in the Northern Province, who recently underwent a change in their numbers plates to include the new coat of arms, will not “necessarily” be subjected to yet another change, assures Ramatlhodi. He says: “We just need number plates that are different from the rest of South Africa which they already are.”
Ramatlhodi says the provincial government intends to continue to use its old stationery until supplies run out.
The premier argues that the long-term financial benefits to businesses, particularly in the tourism sector, would be enormous in comparison to the “slight costs” involved. As Edgar Mushwana, chair of the provincial parliamentary ad hoc committee considering the name change said: “We would go to California and people would ask us Northern Province of what? Businesses were having a lot difficulty in marketing the province.”
The controversy surrounding the changing of place names in the Northern Province continued this week as white communities in most towns were clearly opposed to the process, while several black community leaders complained that people had not been consulted although the province had placed an advertisement in newspapers last December inviting suggestions from the public.
Provincial Freedom Front leader Johan Willemse cited alleged mismanagement, short-sighted planning and discrimination against white cultural interests as urgent issues, which were sure to lead to confrontation between the government and certain communities.
The FF, Democratic Alliance, and several other opposition parties in the province were set to join hands to register their disapproval.
Meanwhile the provincial Department of Local Government and Housing has announced that the names of cities, towns and streets in the Northern Province will also be changed as part of the transformation process.
Cities and towns to have their names changed include Louis Trichardt, Duiwelskloof, Tzaneen, Naboomspruit, Nylstroom, Warmbaths, Ellisras, Bochum, Dendron, Hoedspruit, Messina, Soekmekaar, Pietersburg which will be known as Polokwane, meaning place of safety and Potgietersrus, which will be called Mokopane, a meeting place.
MEC for Local Government and Housing Joe Maswanganyi says the country cannot afford to retain names such as that of Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid. He says money to fund the changes is there to be used. “You cannot continue to have money in the bank account which is not used,” he says. Provincial leader Maxwell Nemadzivhanani of the Pan Africanist Congress calls the move long overdue, correct and bold.
However the provincial United Democratic Movement says the entire process is a face-saving exercise by a desperate African National Congress, after getting into an unholy marriage with the New National Party.
The Northern Province is the third to change its name, after Gauteng, formerly PWV, and Mpumalanga, formerly Eastern Transvaal.
Back in the Eastern Cape, Thami Magwigwi, a representative in the office of the premier, says the premier wants a name that reflects the progress that has been made in the country. “The renaming of the province is about restoring the dignity of the South African people,” he says.