Although the Keep Grahamstown Grahamstown (KGG) campaign won a victory of sorts in the battle for the name of Grahamstown in that those calling for the change have been silent for over a year, it was always only a matter of time before the issue re-surfaced.
Although the Keep Grahamstown Grahamstown (KGG) campaign won a victory of sorts in the battle for the name of Grahamstown in that those calling for the change have been silent for over a year, it was always only a matter of time before the issue re-surfaced.
In an article in the Saturday Dispatch of 15 May, Councillor Julia Wells is quoted as saying that the issue is “far from dead” and that an announcement can be expected “very soon”.
Wells was the chairperson of the Makana Municipality’s Naming Task Team (NTT) appointed by the former Makana Mayor, Pumelelo Kate, shortly after he declared in September 2007 that the name Grahamstown was “offensive” and would be replaced within a matter of months.
Whether or not the NTT still exists is open to question. It has not met for more than a year and the last time Wells had anything to say on the subject was in early 2009 when she stated that the issue had been “taken back” by Mayor Kate. Kate himself fell silent on the issue and was later replaced by the present Mayor, Vumile Lwana,
who has never made any public pronouncements on the matter. It seemed therefore that the issue had died a natural death especially as the name Grahamstown features prominently in re-branded Makana signage erected very recently at all entrances to the city.
From the beginning, Wells’ NTT, which mostly comprises of ruling party councillors, struggled to deliver on its mandate to change Grahamstown’s name.
Several deadlines for submissions on the issue passed with minimal interest or response. The only substantive submission was from the KGG supported by more than 6 000 signatures, SMSes and emails from throughout South Africa and overseas, but it was never considered by the NTT as it repeatedly failed to form a quorum for its meetings.
Wells then launched a public “education campaign” on the issue, commissioning a documentary video at a cost of R100 000.
The video was shown at a series of public meetings held throughout Grahamstown after which, according to a programme released by Wells herself, the NTT was supposed to make a recommendation to the Makana council by about June 2008. The public meetings proved an embarrassment with poor turnouts in almost every case.
Those who did express themselves on the subject felt that the issue was unimportant and that the municipality should not be wasting time and money on it.
This confirmed the results of a snap opinion poll conducted before the launching of the KGG as well as a formal survey by the Rhodes University Institute for Social and Economic Research which concentrated exclusively on the opinions of Grahamstown’s township residents.
Wells’ response was that the process had become “open-ended” and that public consultation would continue indefinitely.
The KGG has always maintained that pressure to change the name of Grahamstown came from outside and that Makana Municipality was doing the bidding of the South African Geographic Place Names Council (SAGPNC) through its Eastern Cape Provincial Committee (ECGPNC).
It was no coincidence that Kate’s announcement came soon after then-President Thabo Mbeki questioned in Parliament how a city could still be named after a “butcher” of the Xhosa people – an obvious reference to Grahamstown and its founder, Colonel John Graham.
The ECGPNC has also announced that it intends to change all “colonial” place names in the Eastern Cape and that Grahamstown heads its list of a “dirty dozen” such places.
Wells has been working closely with the ECGPNC and her handling of the matter is a clear indication that she is delivering on a fixed mandate and that neither she nor the ECGPNC will accept a result which does not support the name-change.
Her latest announcement in the Saturday Dispatch also refers to the appointment of a new ECGPNC and stated that “it is a question of adjusting to new key roleplayers and lines of discussion.”
No doubt those “lines of discussion” are about how to manipulate the desired outcome and to not have a repeat of the embarrassing debacle over the re-naming of Louis Trichardt to Makado.
That change was reversed by the Supreme Court of Appeal seven years later because there had not been a proper public consultation process.
In the case of Grahamstown, Wells and the ECGPNC were at pains to follow correct procedures. Their dilemma is that the public do not agree that the name is offensive and needs to be changed.
But Wells,a member of the Makana Mayoral executive, has shown that she is not one to accept defeat. Not delivering on her mandate would be seen as a failure which could be damaging to her political career and, of course, there is also the question of her personal convictions and prejudices.
As a professor of History, Wells’ writings show that she is no admirer of Settler history or anything connected to it.
The argument that the name Grahamstown is a positive brand name and is no longer associated with Col Graham does not wash with Wells or the ECGPNC.
For its part the KGG is ready to go the next round. As we told Wells at the beginning, her “democratic credentials” would be sorely tested on this issue.
By that we meant her willingness to accept the freely expressed and genuine views of the people. Such a willingness has to date been found wanting.
