All is not lost for residents of Grahamstown who still want to participate in the process of changing the town’s name.
All is not lost for residents of Grahamstown who still want to participate in the process of changing the town’s name.
An opportunity will be made available to the public to object to the town’s proposed new name if they want to.
This comes after a meeting of around 80 people in Grahamstown’s BB Zondani Hall on Thursday, 11 February unanimously decided that, of the three possible names proposed – Makhanda, Nxele and Rhini – the town’s new name should be Makhanda.
Grocott’s Mail spoke to the Eastern Cape Provincial Geographical Names Committee (ECPGNC) about the process to be followed after last week’s public participation meeting.
Explaining the process, executive committee member, Zukile Jodwana, told Grocott’s Mail that what happens after the public hearing is that they present the outcomes of that meeting to the Committee. “The Committee deliberates and checks whether in organising and arriving at the stage where the name has to be standardised or changed we have followed all the necessary processes as the committee,” he said. Having satisfied itself with the process the committee then agrees on what to recommend to Department of Arts and Culture MEC, Pemmy Majodina.
Before recommendations can be made to the MEC, the names that are to be standardised must be published.
“The results of these meetings are going to be published in newspapers calling for objections or comments from the public,” Jodwana said.
He says that members of the public have 21 days to object to these outcomes from the date of publication of the notice in newspapers. If there are objections a sub-committee that deals with such objections will sit and consider the facts that have been submitted and then categorise those objections.
Jodwana is also the chairperson of the sub-committee for public participation and dialogue within the ECPGNC.
He said, based on the sub-committee’s deliberations and after taking consideration of the objections, the sub-committee then advises the Committee depending of the nature of the objections.
“Maybe some [objections]will be based on procedural grounds in terms of our own guidelines. The committee advises us on that context,” he said.
He said that if the objections are found to have foundation, the committee will advise both those who have objected and those who have proposed the name on how to proceed.
“And if the committee finds that there is a material breach, or that, from our side, we have not done our work correctly we will have to re-do the process,” he said.
However, if the committee finds that everything has been done correctly and that there are no procedural grounds for the process to be re-done, then it advises the committee and the committee takes a decision, informs those who objected and submits its proposals to the MEC.
Jodwana said the MEC will then look at the processes and consider the objections and make recommendations and decide if these can be submitted to the South African Geographical Names Committee (SAGNC).
They, in turn, will examine the process's legitimacy and then advise the Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Fikile Mbalula accordingly.
“So from where we were the committee is going to deliberate, but we are going to publish the results of those meetings in the newspapers and invite comments and objections. So before the name is finalised and gazetted we have to go through these processes,” he said.
Jodwana said the challenge that they face is that some people take issue with an attempted name change before the period for objections begins. He says that it is counter-productive for people to do this as the committee will engage with such issues during the proper period.
“It is then that we consider the objection, not before the process even begins,” he said.
Speaking about the confusion in the process that has been followed up to now Jodwana said: “I think in the case of Grahamstown in particular we must separate two processes. There was a process that was undertaken by the municipality for its own process of naming the municipality and so on.”
He said that was a municipal process. Jodwana explained that the municipality is not empowered in terms of the Act to deal with the standardisation of a geographical name, such as the name of the town itself.
“It only deals and is empowered to deal with the name of the municipality, including street names and all other municipal assets, like your cemeteries, stadiums and municipal halls.
"Where we come in is that we deal with all features that are within the jurisdiction of the ECPGNC as outlined in the guidelines and as mandated by the SAGNC Act 118 of 1998."
The cost of change
Local organisations that were asked if they would consider changing their names if the current process is finalised had varied responses. Philip Machanick of the Grahamstown Residents Association (GRA) said they will consider the matter when it is clear that the name change is actually happening. Machanick said the process for changing place names requires far more comprehensive consultation than this; at least one such change elsewhere in the country had been overturned in the courts because of insufficient consultation.
"This one meeting has to be put in context of many years of public consultations, which cannot be ignored. GRA is aware that there are big differences over this issue, and we prefer to focus on ways of uniting the community around solving problems. Our major concern in this matter is that the proper process be followed," he said.
Sue Waugh of Makana Tourism said: "As far as Makana Tourism is concerned we would not rebrand – we just do not have the money for such an exercise."
Some welcomed the proposed name.
Child Welfare Grahamstown's director Woineshet Bischoff said she wasn't sure what each individual member of staff and management committee members think about the name change, but said she personally had no problem.
"The new name sounds good. In terms of the organisation, yes it is going to cost us money. Money we don’t have. We [would]then have to change our NPO registration name, letterheads etc…"
anele@grocotts.co.za
