KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation MEC Ms Hlengiwe Mavimbela has officially launched the new Provincial Geographical Names Committee (PGNC) led by newly elected Provincial chairperson Mr Thanduxolo Sabelo who is an EXCO member of eThekwini Municipality.
The PGNC will assist municipalities in changing the geographical names under their jurisdiction. The committee will be conducting awareness campaigns in the districts to educate the community on the processes that are followed when changing the place names. It will also change the focus and no longer focus on orthography and spelling rules but on town names of various places around KZN.
“During the apartheid era people were deprived their right to freedom and their culture, that is why most of places were changed their original names and re-named after colonizers. This is why the South African Geographical Names Council Act, 1998 came into existence,” said MEC Mavimbela.
MEC Mavimbela has welcomed all the members of the KZN Provincial Geographical Names Committee and outlined the importance of this committee as it has a major role to play in redefining who we are as indigenous people of KZN.
MEC Mavimbela said, “There is still a lot of work to be done to in KwaZulu-Natal as there are still a lot of names that still needs to be changed. The minute we do these changes it will instill pride in the people of KZN. We all have a major role to play to also teach our children about their culture and heritage, this includes educating them about the historical background of the places we all come from.”
The nine members of the PGNC will go through the induction process and terms of reference for the committee.
For more information, please contact:
Media Liaison Officer
Ms Phathisa Mfuyo
Cell: 083 798 4525
