Go 24 June 2021

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Official provincial name change
committee launched in Bhisho
Applications open for East London’s new name
SIPHOSIHLE DYONASE
Department of sport,
recreation, arts and
culture (Dsrac) MEC
Fezeka Nkomonye held an
official inauguration of the
Eastern Cape Provincial
Geographical Names
Committee (ECPGNC) council
in Bhisho on Friday
The re-establishment of the
ECPGNC council is an attempt
by Dsrac to ensure the
continued identification,
management, conservation
and promoting of heritage
resources in the Eastern Cape
P r ov i n c e .
“Our department has a
constitutional mandate to drive
social cohesion and nation
building, as well as contribute to
the transformation agenda of the
c o u n t r y,” Nkomonye said.
“The building of a united
nation requires a deliberate
programme to redress and
transform the divisive legacy of
our past. Apartheid symbols,
names and other artefacts
continue to represent the
exclusion and discrimination of
the past.”
“This is not just about the
names, but it speaks to our
identity as a nation, we have a
task to construct a common
identity that affirms the culture,
language and symbols of the
indigenous people of this
c o u n t r y.
“We must never shy away
from correcting the injustices of
the past, the affirmation and
inclusion of the previously
marginalised. The name
changes are about restoring the
dignity and making visible all
those who made invisible by
a p a r t h e i d - c o l o n i a l i s m .”
The MEC further said that the
previous committee is
commended for advancing and
fast-tracking standardisation of
the names of places in the
Eastern Cape.
“To date, more than 200
place names have been
standardised in the province.
The outgoing Committee led by
Councillor Pumla Nazo has
succeeded in changing names
of strategic and key centres.
“These include
Grahamstown to Makhanda,
King William’s Town to Qonce,
Uitenhage to Kariega, Aliwal
North to Maletswai,
Queenstown to Komani
and Port Elizabeth to
G q e b e r h a .”
As previously reported by
the Daily Dispatch (‘East
London to keep its name — for
n ow ’, June 21), Nkomonye said
that there was no proposed
change of East London’s name
in the near future due to the
proposed name, KuGompo,
already being taken by the
informal settlement in the area.
However, applications were
still open for potential new
names for the city.
Members of the ECPGNC
council are appointed by MEC
Nkomonye in terms of Section 2
(2)(a) of the South African
Geographical Names Council
Act (Act No. 118 of 1998).
The Acts stipulate the
number of members that should
compose a council and the term
of office for the council
members.
The following members who
were appointed as the incoming
committee to serve office for the
coming three years:
● Zukile Jodwana (chairperson)
● Alderman Samkelo Janda
(Mbhashe LM executive mayor)
● Christian Martin (Khoi and
San heritage activist and former
MPL)
● Lukhanyo Sigonyela
(Amathole DGNC member)
● Ludwe Ndolose (Academic
from Walter Sisulu University)
● Ntandazo Giwu (Alfred Nzo
DGNC member)
● Nkosi Buyanda Gwazinamba
Matanzima (Member of EC
NEW
IDENTITIES:
Dsrac MEC
Fezeka
Mkomonye at
the launch of
the ECPGNC
last week
P i c t u re :
SUPPLIED
House of Traditional Leaders)
● Ayanda Nkunzi (Member of
the BCM Chamber of Business)