Name changes adopted by Council MyZA

Twenty-four Cape Town streets, two civic centres and a footbridge are to be renamed to honour struggle icons. Following a lengthy public participation process, the recommendation by the City’s naming committee to change the street names was adopted at a Council meeting in late August 2012.

Speaking at the Council meeting, Executive Mayor, Alderman Patricia de Lille, said the six-year name change process was the most inclusive in the country, and was part of the City’s redress programme and commitment to social change and reconciliation.

The City has shown this reconciliation by leaving a number of road names unchanged where there was overwhelming public opposition, and proposing name changes where there has been enormous support, she said. “We have listened. We have led. We are reconciling. “Together, we will move forward to ensure that new facilities are named to reflect our unique history and build a new shared heritage.”

The public participation process involved more than 15 000 door-to-door surveys, four public meetings, and over 3 000 submissions via the City’s website.

Changes to the City’s Naming Policy were also adopted at the Council meeting. Council agreed that all affected parties must be informed timeously of the date of implementation of the name changes. This does not mean the name change process is complete, and another public participation process will deal with the renaming of the rest of the NY (Native Yard) roads, as well as Milner Roads. There will also be further consultation with the family of former Cabinet minister Dullah Omar, after the decision not to name Vanguard Drive after him.

A number of City roads have already been renamed, including Eastern and Western Boulevards to Nelson Mandela Boulevard and Helen Suzman Boulevards respectively.

The names which will be changed are:

Wittebome Civic Centre, to Wynberg Civic Centre
Athlone Civic Centre, to Dulcie September Civic Centre
Coen Steytler Avenue, to Walter Sisulu Avenue
Harrier Street (Parklands), to Blue Crane Street
Hendrik Verwoerd Drive, to Uys Krige Drive;
Lansdowne Road as follows:
From Wetton to Turfhall – remains Lansdowne Road;
From Turfhall to Palmyra – becomes Imam Haron Road;
From Wetton to Swartklip – becomes Govan Mbeki Road;
From Swartklip to Baden Powell – becomes Jeff Masemola Road;
Modderdam Road, to Robert Sobukwe Road
NY1, to Steve Biko Drive
The unnamed footbridge between Langa and Bonteheuwel becomes Bonte-Langa footbridge