Deadline for Written “Objections”

The Minister of Arts & Culture, Dr Z. Pallo Jordan would like to express his thankfulness to the hundreds of people who have written to him to object to the renaming of the airport to the O.R Tambo International Airport.
It is encouraging to note that the name-changing process has deeply moved hundreds of citizens to play an active role in the country’s hard-earned participatory democracy.
Now that we have finally reached the cut-off deadline, which was the 30 July 2006, the Minister Jordan will go ahead to exercise his prerogative, guided by both the rule of law and the will of the people.

Reactions & Resolution

An official announcement regarding the status of the airport name-change will be made during the forthcoming Parliamentary Session that will begin in mid-August.
During the stipulated ‘30-day window period,’ reactions have been trickling in through e-mails, phone-calls and letters at every moment of every hour and, invariably, have been a mixed bag that reflects divergence of background, opinion and belief.
There have been numerous people who are opposed to the name-change while some have welcomed it as a significant development in the right direction.
This is to be expected as name-change is a complex and sensitive issue.

Meaning & Context of Name-Change

Significantly, it should be noted that name-change is an internationally accepted practice fully supported and endorsed by the United Nations that (i) countries have the sovereign right to standardize names and (ii) can decide what name to give for each feature in that country should be or how it should be spelt.
In fact, the Truth & Reconciliation Commission recommended that the renaming of geographic features be a form of “symbolic reparation” to address an unjust past.
The renaming of the Johannesburg International Airport to O.R Tambo International Airport is based on the advice and recommendations of the South African Geographical Names Council whose mandate it is to use the process as an aspect of the healing and reconciliation agenda.
It is important to emphasize that renaming cannot be a number-crunching game that concerns itself with how many people are opposed to a specific name-change.
It has to bear national imperatives including transformation, building social cohesion and nurturing a spirit of national unity in mind.

Where to from Here?

The announcement of the renaming to O.R Tambo International Airport in the government gazette of 30th June 2006 marked the end of the long, drawn out, consultative legal process.
This means that it is now with the legal rights of all stake-holders to implement the new name through signage and other forms.
If there is to be any reversal of this decision, it will be announced by Minister Jordan when he makes a statement in Parliament in due course.

Will the ‘objections’ make a difference?

Of course, yes. They are part of the democratic process that affords a voice to all the people of the land to influence developments in the country. Minister Jordan asked for written ‘objections’ to gauge the sentiments of the people of the land and establish compelling reasons, if there are any, to reverse this significant development.
However, it would be premature for anyone to tell now whether Minister Jordan will say ‘Yes!’ or ‘No!’ We have to exercise patience and bear in mind that the wheels of justice and democracy grind slowly so that we are all crystal clear about the meaning of name-change in the national effort to transform the country.
But Minister Jordan will make an official statement on the status of the airport name-change as soon as he allocated a slot in Parliament when it reopens in mid-August.

For further details, call Sandile Memela, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Arts & Culture on 082 800 3750 or Premi Appalraju, Media Liaison Officer on 082 375 2939.