Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa announced that the name change has been published in the Government Gazette. Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa announced that the name change has been published in the Government Gazette.
A name change for Grahamstown to Makhanda came as no surprise to the organisers of the National Arts Festival.
This follows calls over the past 20 years to change the Eastern Cape town’s name.
Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa announced that the name change had been published in the Government Gazette.
Makhanda, who was also known as Nxele, was a Xhosa warrior, philosopher, prophet and military man who fought against colonialism in battles that include one where he led an attack against the British garrison at Grahamstown in 1819.
Mthethwa pointed out: “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended that the renaming of geographic features be a form of symbolic reparation to address an unjust past."
It is significant that the announcement came as the 44th National Arts Festival got under way last week.
Festival chief executive Tony Lankester said the decision came as no surprise.
“We might have to educate people about what the name is and where it is from, which I don’t think is a bad thing. It is a good opportunity for South Africans to learn a part of their history,” said Lankester.
“This isn’t a surprise, because the process has been going on for a number of years. We knew a year-and-half ago that it was going to change and we knew what the three options were.
"The only thing we learnt when it was gazetted was which of the three the minister had gone with; there was no surprise at all,” he added.
“We are going to have to educate people that there is no financial implication for us. From a brand point of view, we are the National Arts Festival. A lot of South Africans call us the Grahamstown Arts Festival colloquially, but that evolved over time. I am sure the new name will evolve in a similar way."
According to the Department of Arts and Culture, the gazetting of the renaming of Grahamstown was preceded by 20 years of discussions with members of the public, historians, academics and politicians.
In a statement, Mthethwa said he wanted all South Africans to be clear about the meaning of name changes in the national effort to transform the country.
“These reparations include changing the names of geographical places. We cannot prove ourselves committed
(as government) to fully achieve these reparations if we retain names such as Grahamstown - named after Colonel John Graham, whose name is captured in history as being the most brutal and most vicious of the British commanders on that frontier, whose campaigns were executed with - in his own words - 'a proper degree of terror’,” Mthethwa said.
“At the time, the British authorities praised Graham for 'breaking the back of the natives' Even post-battle, he and his soldiers would employ the 'scorched earth policy' against those he had already brought violence and misery against, by burning their fields and killing their cattle; starving them into submission, before killing them. This is the man that Grahamstown was named after,” Mthethwa added.
The minister's spokesperson, Asanda Magaqa, said the public participation with stakeholders had resulted in the proposed names of Rhini, Makana, Makhanda and Nxele.
SA Geographical Names Council chairperson Johnny Mohlala confirmed the name change.
“There were a number of objections, which resulted in five-hour deliberations at the council meetings,” he revealed, adding that there were no direct costs in the name change.
“We don’t spend a cent, we even have a budget for the changing of a name," he said.
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