Twenty years after the release of Nelson Mandela from prison, and with all the doom and gloom going around, there is one issue that has upset me for a while. It’s not HIV/Aids, or crime, or violence against women, or unemployment, or the lack of proper housing for poor people, or drug abuse on the Cape Flats, even though these issues upset me too.
No, the issue that I have been thinking about as the country and the world celebrated the 20th anniversary of what was a great day in our country’s history is: street names.
This is particularly a bone of contention for people living in the Western Cape, where DF Malan, Oswald Pirow, Hendrik Verwoerd and the like still dominate street names in the city centre and what used to be known as “whites-only” suburbs in the bad old days of apartheid.
Mandela, Steve Biko, Samora Machel, Chris Hani, Oliver Tambo, Oscar Mpetha and other high-calibre leaders are commemorated in what used to be (no, still are) “black” townships, such as Khayelitsha and Phillippi.
It irritates me no end, and makes me ashamed to be a citizen of Cape Town and the Western Cape when I drive through Khayelitsha and I see streets named in honour of these leaders.
I’m glad that they are honoured but not in this ghetto fashion. It is almost as if Mandela and the others fought for the liberation of black people only, and so they must be honoured in black townships only.
I understand the arguments by some people who believe that it is expensive to change street names, and that this could have an implication on businesses which operate in these streets.
I also understand the arguments of people who say that we should not be honouring politicians by naming streets after them.
However, if it is okay to change street names in the townships, then why can’t we change street names in the city centre? Is it okay for township people to have the expense of changing their street addresses and not people in the city centre?
Also, while I agree it is difficult to honour living politicians because you never know what they will get up to after being honoured, there is nothing wrong with honouring politicians after they have passed away or, at the very least, retired.
In a city like Cape Town, that already gets accused of being unfriendly towards black Africans, it is important for our city fathers and mothers to be sensitive to this issue.
When Helen Zille was mayor of Cape Town, she commissioned a working group to come up with possible name changes. This group, under the leadership of Rhoda Kadalie, produced what I thought was a fair report, given the city’s divisive history. However, nothing happened after they delivered their report.
It galls me to drive around in the city centre where almost every street name harks back to the bad days of apartheid, while township streets celebrate the leaders who fought for our liberation: not only for black liberation, but for the liberation of all.
Oliver Tambo and the other leaders I have mentioned above lived by Mandela’s words that he first uttered during his trial and repeated on his release: “I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination.”
Why should this man, and others who share his views, be honoured in the black townships only?
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64 Responses to “Why has Cape Town restricted anti-apartheid heroes to township streets?”
Because people don’t like rewriting their past to match current political correctness.
It is an insult to me EVERY SINGLE DAY to drive down roads named Malan and Verwoerd. Every day. For just that short time, every day, my heart and soul is FILLED with anger. Anger that, when all else fades away, I always remember when I stand at the voting booth.
There is a whole appointed committee of historians, anthroplogists and every expert under the sun working on it in Cape Town. Helen appointed the committee but neither she or her MPs sit on it. She says she wants the experts to get it right. She does not want the dramas of the rest of the country.
But the new streets (townships) are getting new names so long.
I had originally supported the concept of name changes, but had a rethink once it was done.
The problem with name changes is that it has been used in Durban to present a singular view of the anti-Apartheid struggle and was done with a complete lack of consultation with the residents.
There have also been some offensive names thrown in like Kenneth Kaunda the Zambian dictator and some silly ones like Che Guevara as if he played a role in South Africa.
One can argue for a need to get rid of offensive names, but lack of transparency, the use of offensive names, some absurd names and the lack of real democratic discussion dishonours the memory of those people who strived for equality, freedom and democracy.
“Is it okay for township people to have the expense of changing their street addresses and not people in the city centre?”
The perception that it is cheaper to change the name of a township street than the name of a City or street in a city centre could have something to do with it.
Other than that, the anti-apartheid heroes might be more celebrated in the townships than in the Cities.
Or…. the pronunciation and spelling of some names might lead to interesting conversations when directing others to your new address as many GPS systems do not always keep track of the changes.
And last but not least: it must be a racial issue!!!!
ITs because cape town is the last colonial outpost i tell you
Don’t you find the statues of white supremacists (Jan Smuts in company gardens and adderly street, Louis botha right in front of parliament, Cecil Rhodes in company gardens and some king of England on the grand parade) the cover the city centre a bit strange?…
the street names that accompany these statues are no coincidence!
I absolutely agree. When I drive in Centurion I am amazed to still steets named Voster and Verwoerd.
A good idea would be to start with those who actively constructed the apartheid system like Verwoerd. Also specific attention must be given to Nazi collaborators and Ossewabrandwag members like Voster, PW Botha, DF Malan, Hertzog ect.
But hands of Pretoria (I am pretty happy of it being part of the Tshwane Metro, and so it should continue).
Yes, there are some street names that need to be changed in the CBD…however most street names are neutral and don’t need to be changed. For example, I don’t understand how streets like Long St., Strand St., Bree St., etc. would be offensive to anyone, while I would understand why Hendrik Verwoerd, DF Malan, etc. would be offensive.
I would advise to rename the streets that are offensive, and leave be the streets that are not. I think that is the most fair solution.
I think a lot of the objection to renaming streets (besides expense) is twofold. First, many of the streets that are renamed are not offensive in the first place; rather, it seems (or is perceived) more like a desire to erase cultural history. Second, the renamings often smack of a political agenda, honoring certain people with certain political affiliations to the exclusion of others who might be equally deserving. For example, I don’t have a clue why Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and Yasser Arafat now have streets named for them in Durban, while Mangosuthu Highway had its name revoked. While Cape Town is not Durban and its renaming proposal seems to be generally fair well-thought, it is important to honor local heroes and non-ANC heroes too (and there are / were many in Cape Town).
While we’re at it, there’s a Robert Mugabe Street on the Flats that I would like to see renamed!
Mr Fisher, I agree with your sentiments entirely. What I do not agree with is the lack of comment from Godzille or one of her henchMEN. Perhaps you could make the effort next time to ask them about the report.
Irrelevant considering the fact that we as a country spit on Mandela and all those like him by completely failing to continue the fight against gross inequality.
Why should street names be changed in the city center, after all many of the people you mentioned have streets named after them in just about every other city in the country, And apart from Oswald Pirow which CBD street names honour the Bad old days, long, strand, plein?
It seems to me that you want to “punish” White people but surely this isn’t the point, isn’t it fitting that the people living in the townships who strongly identify with their heros live in streets named after them. and why should streets be renamed cant be build new streets and name them instead? there is no real reason to rename streets other then a spitefull “we will show you whos in charge kinda way”
Ryland, Ryland, Ryland… Last week, you were ashamed of being part of the media. This week you are ashamed of Cape Town’s street names. What next?
Surely you remember the issue that led to the demise of the National Party / Democratic Party alliance was the move by then mayor of Cape Town, Peter Marais, to rename Wale Street and Adderley Street after FW and Madiba respectively. That led to a seismic shift in the political landscape with Marthinus skulking off to join the ANC and Tony Leon emerging triumphantly as leader of the opposition.
Streets should not be renamed to suit the political mood of the time. Rather erect new monuments in the names of our current heroes. The Nelson Mandela bridge in Jo’burg CBD is a good example. Remember that St Petersburg was triumphantly named Leningrad by the Russian Revolution. When free will triumphed over authoritarianism with the fall of the Berlin wall, the people of St Petersburg returned to the old name.
Here in Durban,street names were changed in predominantly white residential areas against the wishes of the inhabitants of these suburbs, while the Mlazi and Kwamashu sprawling townships streets are still named by numbers, if at all.
Our city fathers feel that to irritate the ratepayers is far better sport than to provide dignity and services to the non-ratepayers.
Everywhere you go in Morningside, Durban North and Glenwood, you see blacked out street names. These will never be accepted by the residents and the original names will live on.
I could not agree with you more Ryland. This really bothers me too, you drive around Cape Town you see streets named after apartheid perpetrators, in Platekloof you still find steets named after Virwoed. This is really bad. There are statues of these apartheid people in Cape Town. This to me begs a question, has Cape Town really move away from apartheid? Reports after reports come out exposing the oppression of black people even in the work place, but still nothig is done about that by the powers that be.
The short reason for this is that Cape Town is still stuck in the days of apartheid and will only be dragged kicking and screaming to change street names.
It is still a racist city that caters mostly for whites and European tourists because they bring in the big money.
You’re asking the wrong questions…. have you not noticed that we’ve all moved on? That there are bigger issues? Don’t you think that our heroes would be better served and indeed honoured if we focussed our attention on why the leaders and “heroes” who govern us today are letting us down and spitting in the very face of the legacy that you are feebly trying uphold. Do you think that the hungry child on Nelson Mandela Drive, Gugulethu (wherever) gives a thought to who Oswald Pirow is and blames him for hole in his stomach. Or the unemployed man who shares that corner with a hundred more hoping to make R60 for a days hard labour quite frankly gives a d*mn about the street name he lives on… The changing of a street name is a fleeting happiness - after a while it goes back to being just what it always was - a street… and the problem you hoped to mask with your superfluous concerns is still there… a flashing, neon sign of a street name couldn’t say it loud enough.
If that is your biggest concern, then all I can say is that Cape Town is a very well run city.
Why don’t you buy land, commit the capital, employ the workers, provide the intellectual capital and foresight, attract the businesses and residents and build your own city. Then you have the right to name the streets.
Get a life Bru!, if this is the most important point on your agenda then all hope is lost. I do agree that people can and should change names democratically in their own suburb / slum but dont go all apartheid state on us with this shit. Prioritise!
“Mandela, Steve Biko, Samora Machel, Chris Hani, Oliver Tambo, Oscar Mpetha and other high-calibre leaders are commemorated in what used to be (no, still are) “black” townships, such as Khayelitsha and Phillippi.” Yes, this is correct and in 300 years these areas will be prime real estate!
Yes, they even fought for the liberation of us Afrikaners! They have already liberated us of a lot of money, not to mention Afrikaans schools, universities and place names. Way to go, ANC!
I think you are making a good point except that you deliberately or unconciously, forget other liberation heroes in you article, such as, Robert Sobukwe, Sabelo Phama, Zephania Motopeng, to name a few of the PAC. The ANC government has done this conciously, I wish to know why you have.
Bonginkosi Zwane on February 24th, 2010 at 9:42 am
What gives you the right to call Khayelitsha and Philipi gettos? Where would you like to see these names in Hanover Park? Every time a street name is changed it costs a whole lot of money that could have been better spent uplifting poorer neighbourhoods and supplying infrastructure to what you disparagingly refer to as a “ghetto”. Perhaps the rampant vandalism has had something to do with pushing the name change issue further down the list on a dwindling budget. What is more important: fighting AIDS, drugs, murder, rape and poverty or having new nameplates to satisfy your sense of justice? You obviously do not lack for anything more important than nameboards. Allow those worse off to be helped first, please. This post stinks of making trouble for the sake of trouble. The majority of Cape Townians have had enough of trouble, especially in Khayelitsha and Philipi.
Galls, irritates, ashamed…
?
timely article, but emotional and a bit thickly spread.
Anyway,I agree, hope that the DA city do change those apartheid names.
Durban’s ANC has changed many street names which now resembles Maputo or Harare - how pathetic it all is
well, actually just like the apartheid names: partisan, authoritarian, narrow minded, scary
You cannot change history for the sake of recent history. These names did little to harm you. It is all in the mind. Get over it.
What exactly have these people you named done for you? For that matter exactly how much better will you feel?
These may have given you the vote. They may have given you a job but little else.
You cannot walk in the streets, you take a chance driving your car, you dare not get ill and end up in a state hospital, you cannot easly obtain a passport.
Your passport is subject to scrutiny everywhere in the world so much so that that one feels like a criminal. Our second biggest export are criminals.
The country is blacklisted by most major banks in the USA inasmuch that credit card holders have to get authorisation before coming to SA or buying product on the internet.
Now tell exactly why you are so proud of these people?
It’s probably because they are too busy concentrating on things that make a tangible difference to residents’ lives. Thank goodness they don’t waste time on windowdressing.
The craving by humans to be remembered (e.g. by having a street named after one, having a statue or building a pyramid) can be associated to the worst sin of all namely pride. Rather that God knows your name, because if He doesn’t he will say “Depart from me I never knew you”.
I prefer roads to be named after simple things, I can spell, like flower names, as long as it is not the latin names. Best of all if the roads just have numbers, like first avenue, second avenue. At least one can find your way around, which after all is the objective of naming a road. Who and what do I care is an Adderley or Darling?
Name Changing you see is a very contentious issue. Just as in Durban, the family of someone murdered by a “freedom fighter have to now live on a street named after their family member’s murderer so too in Cape Town you have to live with the fact that the heroes of the struggle have streets named after them in areas where they are heroes. Removing the names of the “enemy” is in a sense removing the reminder of the fact that these heroes of yours would not be heoes today were it not for those whose names are already there. Surely in the spirit of Mandela’s reconciliation the history of our country needs to be complete and we should not remove names and replace them with names of people who are part of the reason for the struggle. Perhaps you would like to see them in the areas from which the “freedom fighters” arose and then the freedom fighters names would all have to be put up in their place in the areas which were predominantly white. It falsifies and confuses our history and is more expensive. These are after all your heroes but perhaps they are not those of some whites and certainly they were there before the freedom fighters and formed the reason for the liberation so should be left until such time as cooler heads and economics can afford to let them go. There was NO Cape Town or JHB before the colonists came, no streets.
Peace In Our Time on February 24th, 2010 at 11:32 am
Hi
I have a different view….street names of the past should be kept as the past must not be erased
We do have Robin Island which should be named after Mandela
We have a new football stadium which can be ORT… advertiser We have new developments such as Century City…Why not Hani City
We have enough developments to keep our history alive without costly name changing
There is plenty of time to change names. Let these heroes stand the test of time of this greatest of all struggles. It would seem the heroes know who they themselves are. Signs will not end endemic corruption and crime, nor heal a nation wounding itself daily after fifteen years. Changing the names at times will be as divisive as leaving them be. Build a new society, then name it.
A Rose by any other name is still a Rose.
The fallible nature of home sapiens should teach us all a lesson, find names that are not likely to end up sounding offensive in 30 years time for an example. We could honour our heroes by naming institutions of excellence and progress. E.g the Goethe Institute, Rockerfeller, etc.
Before you shoot my head off, think about the legacy OR Tambo left us..it is not internationalism (a school of international relations would be a befitting honour) OR Tambo international airport is thus a farce, as Jan Smuts was instrumental at the time in making South African link up with the rest of the world.
Equally, Nelson Mandela has bequeathed a legacy of tolerance and rainbow people.Let us not waste money we do not have on Changing Hendrik Verwoerd Drive to Tsafendas Drive (you get my drift right?)
What’s in a name? Clearly some names are charged with a lot of emotion for certain sectors of the population. Others have better prioritised the real issues confronting not only CT but the nation.
OK so we change all the offensive names, and RUB the painful reminder from our city scape. Are we not guilty of a subtle attempt at “history revisionism”? EB Sledge expressed concern that revisionism, in his words “mellowing”, would allow us to forget the harsh facts of history…”
So change the names that offend, but how will it help with better service delivery, and ethical, tranparent government?
Imagine if the Jews tried to remove any vestige of the Holocaust from history books? Instead places like the terrible concentration camps were left as reminders of what can happen when the wrong kind of people are at the helm.
Leon van Greunen on February 24th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Who cares about street names , when there is grand theft,corrution ,mass unemployment ,poverty,bad services,lazy politicians,culture of entitlement,crime ec etc etc, it may concern you , but surely this is just an attempt at trying to take people’s eye off the real problems. Name changes are not going to make anyone happier ,although the costs involved could educate or feed a lot of people. First things first .
personally, i’m someone who believes that the naming issue should be decided AFTER the following issues:
a) the rubbish education system
b) the ridiculous [un]employment situation
c) the ridiculous crime situation
d) the so-so transit system
ONLY THEN should “gee, is this long street or ruth first avenue” be an issue.
otherwise, changing street and place names without doing very much about the underlying societal problems is like a “white” company putting the names of their “non-white” cleaner on their charter and calling themselves BEE compliant.
last colonial outpost? i didn’t know that queen nzinga sent her subjects to colonize the cape at the same time she was fighting off the portuguese; much of the civic life in my corner of cape town is in kikongo and portuguese [as well as french and shona].
the usual suspect whiners who whinge about the lack of “african-ness” of central capetonian life are really decrying the lack of xhosa-ness — which is a somewhat valid argument. but in constantly ignoring the other africans living in cape town, doing their own thing, it’s really difficult to be even remotely sympathetic to any such argument.
with regard to the statues — how about the state [they’re mainly on government property] add some statues in addition to the ones that are there already? or do the “cape town is not african” crowd actually *NEED* things to actively lambaste the place about?
“here is a whole appointed committee of historians, anthroplogists and every expert under the sun working on it in Cape Town. Helen appointed the committee but neither she or her MPs sit on it.”
Cape Town is the only city doing it the democratic consulting way (which is always very slow) and all the rubbish bloggers can’t wait to put the boot in.
C.T please learn, SA is a non democtratic knee jerk marxist/fascist country and everyone only relates to leaders who “do it their way with no consultation.”
63% Of ANC supporters think that the DA Provincial government are performing well.
Maybe they could reach 68% with some simple name changes. Or they could do the opposite of the example set by the ANC and go for better service delivery. Maybe they should promise to change the names just before the elections like the ANC promise to deliver services.
Seems the DA should rather see name changes as an oppertunity!
Sure, Durban’s new street names caused a huge furore.
Just think how many more Aids-sufferers could have had ARVs had the money been spent more wisely. Schools might have had a new history text book explaining who these people on the signs are, because, sure as hell, I haven’t met one person who knows most of them. I know of two: Che and Ghandi; that’s one more than most…neither, please note, South Africans or known by most Zulus.
What’s in a name? Who really cares (except you)? There are people starving in this country; get real!
all the beneficiaries (direct & indirect) of apartheid are so spoiled to a level where they are always preoccupied with the pirit of hunting down faults from those who liberated them and always thriving to mantain the old-order face of South Africa while ironically accusing their liberators with rediculous charges like the “race card”, “reverse apartheid” and deceiving people to suddenly believe that they now care for them - we must consistently read through their pretence, reject their agenda, and defeat them, up until they submit to the highest level of common sense
What is more important at this time?
Service delivery or street name changes??
You can now live in your shack and rejoice that the name of the street that you shack is in is named after someone from the struggle.
First things first. Look around the country and see how many names have changed and how many houses could have been built instead??
I cannot believe that people wish to do away with names such as Queen Elizabeth Street or as Jody argues for the statue of King George to be removed. South Africa is part of the Commonwealth again and should honour that history even if parts were ugly.
It’s so nice that you have the audacity to whine about something as insignificant as street names while people are starving. This spoiled attitude of the elites is the truly offensive aspect to the renaming process. ‘Oh I feel _so_ angry looking at that name!’ Do you really think starving beggars care if they are looking for a handout on Jan Smuts Drive or Hugo Chavez Boulevard? How many can actually read either name thanks to our beleagured educational system that categorically fails our poor? Please let’s get our priorities straight and abandon the obsession with form over content.
While I appreciate the political correctness, as always, that the DA displays with the whole independant consultation thing, I have a shorter cheaper answer to the whole naming thing. Simply do not name them after people. Statues? Cute. We are running out of space in Cape Town anyway, bring the remaining ones down. Instead, put up a wall of sorrow midtown for all the species that have become extinct in the Cape Peninsula so that we can remember the real victims in the human landgrabbing war. Let the Environmental Department decide what boards may go up where.
There is no need to change the names of structures that already exist, the current GOVT must erect its own structures to honour the anti-apartheid icons. I am tired of the Mandelas, Tambos, Hanis and the Mbekis street naming. Why do we repeat the same model that the apartheid GOVT used wherein every city in SA has Voortrekker, Mowbray, Verwoed, Botha etc. Why do we rename s street in venda or Polokwane after the Mandelas, Mbekis, Tambos as if we don’t have our own local heroes. We should be careful when we start renaming streets because we run the risk of compromising the effort put forward by our indigenous and unsung heroes. Why the renaming process has to adopt political directions? Is politics the only source of our cultural heritage? If so, I say ‘to hell; with political icons. I suggest we start looking at other aspects that hold us together as a nation.
Fhatuwani Rambau on February 25th, 2010 at 9:10 am
@ Obzino…some points:
1/ There is no need for us to be “hunting down faults” when the media and civil society provide us with daily examples of “faults”
2/ Your use of words like “defeat” have a sinister ring but you might find this easier said than done
3/ You refer to the “highest level of common sense”
and this has to be a joke given the broad based failure of the ANC to govern effectively
4/ You will find that we are not really inclined to “submit” to ideological pressure
The Cape Town i know is not doing much for the previously disadvantaged at. There is sewerage running down the streets of Philippi, Du noon, Gugulethu and many other areas day and night, ZThere is no housing provision for the people, no proper refuse removal and you call that good performance!
I stay in middle class areas, it takes 15 minutes for the City to unblack drains, but in Du Noon it takes 3 days yet the depot is just 1.5 km away and you call that service delivery! Delivery to who??
How many houses in the past three years have actually been built by the City of Cape Town ? you compare that to those build by the provincial government in the same period. See if will will call that good service delivery.
People don’t care to find out what the majory which happen to be power are experiancing here in Cpe Twon. We look at thesee beutifull places and conclude that the DA is performing. Don’t get me wrong i am not saying the ANC is doing well. We should rather say which of two devils is better, because what you see in Balfour, Sharpville is exactlly what you will see in Cape Town sooner that later.
You know Ryland this is a chosen mindset. Suddenly there were car guards & washers wherever I went and it almost made me ill with anger. I hadn’t needed them b4 etc. Then I had my car damaged by one of them twice in the same place & I was nearly physically attacked when two of them fought over whose parking bay it was and who should get the money. R2-00 was worth dying for? I decided that the R2-00 was nothing really if I had it and I was making myself ill over nothing so I stopped being angry and gave them the little change I had graciously. Shopping was simpler that way. Then one who I saw regularly saved me getting a R500 fine.(I went back and gave him R150.)If you do not like those streets avoid them or alternatively look at the road and not the street names. I also find the names of Verwoerd etc objectionable but Smuts? He got the UN started without which ANC may have struggled even longer! I’m 60 and I hardly recall who Malan was FGS’s. Prioritise please.1st feed the hungry on X street and THEN change the name of the street to something totally neutral like Aloe or Spekboom or Khoisan.No more people or “Heroes of the struggle” in older areas. You want them name new suburbs or streets or whatever you choose. Pettiness only stirs up opens old wounds. First things first.
Peace In Our Time on February 25th, 2010 at 11:29 am
um, sibusiso:
the housing delivery is a red herring. the interference by the anc in the provision of housing by the city of cape town is fairly well documented — up to and including the provincial election, where the anc-led provincial government transferred a lot of land to the national government’s domain, specifically to stymie plans for a non-anc provincial government’s intended housing provisions.
re: sewage. geologically speaking, most of the city of cape town should not exist [and until fairly recently, it didn’t]; the water table is too high and the ground is too sandy. we could go to the places in philippi and crossroads and nyanga where there is sewage running, and i could probably tell you in less than 30 minutes if the houses were there *before* the right type of underground plumbing structure existed to support it.
something that i do for kicks is look at old and new maps of the city. one thing i quickly figured out is why many of the open spaces originally existed in both the suburbs and the townships: drainage — plants bring up the water, which is then evaporated. transpiration is your friend. build on or near the drainage spaces, and you will get regular flooding, poor sewerage control, or both, depending on the type of structure built and how many people move there.
a proper fix of the sewerage infrastructure would involve throwing a lot of people out of their houses. however, this is politically untenable.
I have no problem with renaming places etc. When I moved from the old SA to the new country I was surprised to find I still live in SA.
However, in Durban street names have been changed BUT the government agencies still send bills to the old names. My post won’t be delivered unless it goes to the old name. I cannot order pizza under the new name.
So someone can change the name BUT no one can change the system.
Any of you don’t like the way Cape Town is run are free to go and experience delivery in any ANC run municipality. Truth is blacks are running to CT from ANC run areas.
@PIOT. Surely we just have to do all of this? Get the fascists of our streeet names, systematically & progressively address the massive inequalities in our society & go out of our way to ensure we care for ourselves, our families, other SAns & the environment?
Hi again Sibusiso. I see that someone has answered why things are the way they are in Phillippi. The other side of the story is that there are limited numbers of people paying their municipal rates but new children being born in places including Phillippi all the time. Most of the people who live on those marshy areas were not originally from Cape Town and many are probably also illegal immigrants who chose to go to Cape Town and were alloed and facilitated by the ANC’s lack of border controls and pathetic corrupt Home Affairs officials. The ANC Govt do not want the ANC to do any better than they did so they also deliberately cut the budgets from the Treasury. Now given that you pay rates and taxes as well as VAT and probably SARS and live in middle income housing, where do you believe the money should be spent? How much debt I wonder does the Cape Town municipality not write off for things like unpaid and stolen electricity and water in the areas of Phillippi per year while people like you and I actually have our services terminated if we do not pay on time and get charged interest moreover. That hurts. Why should illegal immigrants and the jobless be given houses and free services when legal SA’ns who pay their taxes are not able to receive them. Sympathy is one thing but charity begins at home. They can go back where they came from.
As a nation, South Africa is a country full of intelligent, but negative people. If we fight to show how we have transformed as nation by changing our street names, how convinced are we to be that apartheid is over. Anything symbolic of this societal transform in practicality and metaphysical is always shunned by some. I mean how can one say Mandela’s name as a street name must reside in the ghetto, because he is the hero of the ghetto fabulous people, where is the reconcilialtion all of a sudden? What is going to convince us as those who have suffered under apartheid and racism, that peace is the answer if those who negotiated this fragile peace, those who fought for a peaceful society are all of a sudden an inconvience in someone’s address and reviving of the rhetoric of service delivery to shun the symbolism of transformation in our country. Maybe we should not be wasting time co-existing and keep those heroes away and disconnected to the son’s and daughter’s coloniser’s and then we will see what kind of country we will have because those heroes made sure there was no blood shed 20 years ago when Mandela walked free. I support name changes fully until the statues of the coloniser’s come down, becuase it seems like no-one cares about transformation anyway, so why should we care the settler’s history?
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Ryland Fisher is former editor of the Cape Times and author of the book Race. This is his second book, following on Making the Media Work for You, which was published in 2002. He is executive chairperson of the Cape Town Festival, which he initiated while editor of the Cape Times in 1999 as part of the One City Many Cultures project. He received an international media award for this project in New York in October 2006.
His personal motto is "bringing people together", which was the theme of One City Many Cultures. It remains the theme of the Cape Town Festival and is the theme of Race. Ryland has worked in and with government, in the media for more than 25 years, in the corporate sector, in NGOs and in academia. Ultimately, however, he describes himself as "just a souped-up writer".
Ryland's links
Book SA blog My blog on a website that promotes South African literature and authors
Now that the dust has settled on Freedom Day -- April 27, the 16th anniversary of the first time all South Africans voted in a democratic election -- ...
Amid all the political and other chaos in South Africa last week, we missed a potentially very important story: and that involved the planned changes ...
It is understandable that when one of South Africa's best-known racist is murdered on his farm, that there are some people who will read racism into h...
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Because people don’t like rewriting their past to match current political correctness.
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