The controversial name-change proposal has risen again in Grahamstown. Mayor Zamaxulo Peter has said that a decision regarding the town’s name needs to be made within six months.
The controversial name-change proposal has risen again in Grahamstown. Mayor Zamaxulo Peter has said that a decision regarding the town’s name needs to be made within six months.
Peter said that there has been wide consultation on the matter.
"What we would like to see is for the committee led by Councillor Julie Wells to make a presentation of public participation to the full Council, so as to allow the new councillors a chance to understand the whole process," said Peter.
“From that we will see what the position of the report is and we will table it before Council to make a decision.”
Peter added that he hopes this process will be concluded within six months.
The municipality has set aside a budget of R250 000 for the name change.
Peter says that if the money is not used to rename Grahamstown, it will be useful to name streets in Grahamstown East, where many new streets have no names.
Resistance to change
The name-change proposal has been under discussion in Makana since 2007, with the Keep Grahamstown Grahamstown campaign (KGG) opposing the name change proposal. As part of their campaign, they circulated a petition which garnered thousands of signatures.
In a letter to the mayor, KGG campaign organiser Jock McConnachie asked: "As KGG we urge you to reconsider whether re-opening the issue and the timing thereof in Grahamstown’s 200th year is in the best interests of the community. It is our firm belief that nothing will be achieved by doing so other than to sow division and disunity by unnecessarily stirring up emotions over Grahamstown’s early history."
DA councillor Brian Jackson said that the party’s position against the change remained constant.
"The issue was concluded five years ago, when an overwhelming majority were against the renaming and said people should instead be given houses and provided with jobs. There has been no mass call. We are wondering why they [the municipality]are going on with it,” he said.
Jackson claimed the name change could have long-term consequences for the economy of Grahamstown.
Supporters
However, there are also those who support the proposal to change Grahamstown’s name.
Deputy chairperson of the Sarah Baartman (formerly Cacadu) region, Lungile Mxube, said: "We are also going to change the Grahamstown name because it’s a colonial name. The name is a symbol of oppression and we can't at this stage continue to recognise people who brutalised people. Graham was a political butcher."
Regional secretary of the Sarah Baartman district, Scara Njadayi, said that the renaming is an issue of political identity for the Africans.
Listen to Radio Grahamstown debate about the Grahamstown name-change proposal (24 November 2010)
