Johannesburg International airport’s name will change to OR Tambo airport, probably in October, Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan announced in Parliament on Thursday.
“I am formally announcing that I am approving the name change,” he told the National Assembly. The name change was initially proposed by the local municipality.
The airport was previously known as Jan Smuts airport — after the World War II Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa — but this name fell away at the advent of democracy in the country in 1994.
Jordan said the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality had debated the issue in 2003 with arguments for and against being tabled. There was a testing of public opinion by the local authority and the proposal was forwarded to the South African Geographical Names Council.
This proposed name change — together with others — was published in the Government Gazette two months ago.
“The name of the Johannesburg International airport will be changed to OR Tambo International airport,” he said, to loud acclaim from ruling African National Congress benches.
A formal naming ceremony will be organised — after consultations with the ministry of transport — “hopefully to coincide with the late Oliver Tambo’s birthday on October 27”.
African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe said airports should not be named after politicians but after their localities. “This is not the way to go.”
Freedom Front Plus MP Corne Mulder warned that the ruling ANC would not govern forever and would be “chucked out” by the electorate “sooner than you think”. Predicting that the name would change again, he said the ANC at present had the power to change the name.
“Since [president Nelson] Mandela left there is no one [in the ANC] with vision. You are polarising South Africa,” he said.
Tambo, who was born in 1917 and died on April 24 1993, was president of the ANC from 1967 to 1991.
Independent Democrats MP Avril Harding said exercises like this — apparently referring to name changing — should be nation-building exercises.
The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania and the Minority Front supported the name change.
Acsa welcomes change
Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) said on Thursday it welcomed the government’s decision to re-name the airport.
“Acsa believes that re-naming the airport is a fitting and permanent tribute to Oliver Reginald Tambo’s legacy. With millions of passengers from all over the world passing through the airport each year, the new name will remind all South Africans of this hero and will inform international tourists who this great man was.
“In this way, it will ensure that OR Tambo’s legacy of an harmonious, united and democratic South Africa does not cease to be,” the company, which manages the country’s main airports, said.
“Acsa has already started putting together a plan detailing how the name change will be implemented as well as work out the related cost,” it added. — I-Net Bridge