Comments on: Why has Cape Town restricted anti-apartheid heroes to township streets?

By: Kenda Mildrum

Kenda Mildrum — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:14:19 +0000

It is always great to view someone speaking their own thoughts, and for that, many of us all are actually grateful. Thank you for the insight as well as the read.

By: Kazi

Kazi — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:02:32 +0000

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?

By: Mark Knight

Mark Knight — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:58:15 +0000

So basically you would like to imitate the National Party?

Way to go, dude.

By: Peace In Our Time

Peace In Our Time — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:43:05 +0000

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.

By: gumrol

gumrol — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:32:10 +0000

@Michael Francis – I agree with you fully. Spot on comment.

By: Suburban Terrorist

Suburban Terrorist — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:50:05 +0000

@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?

By: Jeff Jones

Jeff Jones — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:02:51 +0000

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.

By: Owen

Owen — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:27:59 +0000

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.

By: mundundu

mundundu — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:30:51 +0000

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.

By: Peace In Our Time

Peace In Our Time — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:29:51 +0000

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.