The transformation of South Africa’s naming landscape
The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and the South African Geographical Names Council assures that all South Africans have the right to play their part in ensuring that the names of places they live in reflect the languages, natural and cultural heritage of the people of South Africa. The SAGNC continues to encourage all provinces to pursue this social change agenda through awareness campaigns and capacity building for PGNCs.
The South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC) was established in terms of the South African Geographical Names Act, No 118 of 1998. Its mandate is to lead the transformation of South Africa’s naming landscape.
As we all know, many names of our villages, towns, and cities still reflect the languages and cultural heritage of both the colonial and apartheid administrations. It is in the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo provinces where one can observe the progressive transformation of the names of major towns and cities.
One hundred and fifty-seven geographical names have been standardized throughout the country for the past three years. The most recent name changes include Solomon Linda (Change of name from Pomeroy, KZN), Gqeberha (change of name from Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape), Kariega (change of name from Uitenhage, Eastern Cape), King Phalo Airport (change of name from East London Airport, Eastern Cape), Winnie Mandela (Change of name from Brandfort, Free State-Town), Kwa-Maqoma (Change of name from Fort Beaufort, Eastern Cape), KwaNojoli (change of name from Somerset East also in the Eastern Cape).
The South African Geographical Names Council is conducting Awareness and Capacity Building Campaigns to inform South Africans that they are invited to participate in the project to transform the names of villages, towns, and cities as well as geographical features so that names reflect their languages, natural and cultural heritage.
The Chairperson of the South African Geographical Names Council, Ms. Palesa Kadi said, “We need to leave our children and our grandchildren a legacy of places with names that reflect a democratic South Africa in terms of its many languages and cultural heritage.”
For example-if the name of a village, town, or city, is offensive, inappropriate, corrupted, misspelled, or unregistered, and the affected and interested parties would like to have it changed, corrected, or registered please approach your nearest Provincial Geographical Names Committee or visit the SAGNC website at www.sagns.gov.za for the process that needs to be followed.
The Capacity Building and Awareness Campaigns will in 2023 cover Free State, Northern Cape, and Northwest provinces and other provinces will host the same campaigns in 2024. The Capacity Building Workshop in Northwest will be held in Rustenburg.
Event: Geographical Name Change Capacity Building Workshop
Date: 09-10 November 2023
Venue: The Royal Marang Hotel
Time: 10h00
Media enquiries:
Zimasa Velaphi
Cell: 072 172 8925
Email: zimasaV@dsac.gov.za
