The law regarding place name changes provides that any citizen, property owner or developer, organised body, government department, local authority as well as the South African Post Office is eligible to apply to have place name changed or re-confirmed. Application forms are available through the South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC). Applicants are required to offer motivation for the change they seek and should provide supportive information, such as the origin and meaning of the proposed name; historical evidence justifying its adoption such as oral traditions, archival documents or other relevant facts that maybe required.

Once completed the application forms are then be submitted to the Local Authority, who will process and validate the applications by affixing its official stamp. Applications then proceed to the Provincial Geographical Names Council (PGNC) for consideration. A Local Authority may, at its discretion, conduct public hearings to test the acceptability of the name change. It could also refer the matter to the next tier of government, the Province. The PGNC, in its turn has the discretion to request the involvement of the national tier, by referring the issue to the SAGNC. To arrive at a decision the SAGNC may consult specialists and researchers who can either authenticate or refute the claims of the applicant/s. The SAGNC meets three times a year. Its schedule may at times slow down the pace at which applications are processed.

SAGNC too has the authority to test the acceptability of the name change by consulting the general public and stakeholders. After concluding its deliberations and consultations the SAGNC submits a proposal for a place-name change to the Minister of Arts and Culture, who after due consideration of the matter, makes the final decision to publish the name change in the Government Gazette.

In the instance of the name change that is highly contested or controversial, the Minister has the power to investigate the matter further, hold public hearings and access the validating research to satisfy himself before making a final decision.

back to top

Background

In terms of UN resolution 4 of the First UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, every country has the sovereign right to standardize its geographical names, i.e. to decide what the name for each feature in that country should be, and how that name should be written.

South Africa has exercised that authority since 1939, through the National Place Names Committee (NPNC), which advised the then Minister of National Education and, after 1994, the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology on proposed new names or applications for name changes. Apart from its unrepresentative character, the mandate of the NPNC was too narrow.

After 1994, in response to the recommendations in the White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage of 1996, a Working Forum on Geographical Names was established to advise the then Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology on the recasting the NPNC’s mandate, international standards and cultural concerns. It also had to attend to legislation. The South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC) was established in accordance with the recommendations of the Working Forum, All political parties represented in parliament at that time participated in the process.

This is the body charged with elaborating the policies and principles for the naming of geographical features in South Africa. It consists of experts on place names, in the official languages and on cultural history. Each province sends one representative, the Chief Directorate of Surveys and Mapping, the SA Post Office and the Pan South African Language Board each are also represented on SAGNC. SAGNC is an advisory body that advises the Minister of Arts and Culture on the transformation and standardization of the geographical names in South Africa.

The standardization of geographical names in the country may regarded as an aspect of the healing and reconciliation process. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, for example, recommended the re-naming of geographical features as a form of symbolic reparations to address South Africa’s unjust past.

Geographical names may reflect culture, heritage, legend, geography and history. They are rarely ever completely untainted. The correct and accurate rendering of geographical names conveys meaning well beyond the name itself. But besides such political considerations, it brings real benefits to local, national and international communities engaged in trade and commerce. Places and their names occupy such an important space in societal life and impact on urban and regional planning, environmental management, sustainable development and conservation, natural disaster relief, security strategy and peacekeeping operations, search and rescue operations, map and atlas production, automatic navigation, tourism, communication, the population census and national statistics, property rights and cadastre.

It is regrettable that there are political parties, whose leadership should be conversant with the steps outlined above, who have chosen to excite anxieties and doubts amongst sections of our society with misleading statements that might generate much heat but will shed little light on the way forward.

We urge citizens to familiarize themselves with the procedures and to carefully monitor consultative and investigative processes whose outcome might be a name change.

For more information please phone Andile Xaba @ 012 337 8497 Mack Lewele 082 450 5076 or Premi Appalraju 082 375 2939.

back to top