Hands off our names

KAROO NEWS - Residents of the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality are working tirelessly to stop the implementation of the proposed name changes of Graaff-Reinet, Aberdeen, Nieu-Bethesda and Adendorp.

The unpopular proposal originated from the Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture and was announced by their representative, Mark Mandita, during a special council meeting on 29 August.

Following the announcement, members of the public and several stakeholders have been vehemently opposing the name changes saying the process is devoid of any transparency.

Online petitions

The DA has developed individual submission forms and will be launching an online submission system soon.

These submissions will be delivered to both the Eastern Cape and the National Geographical Name Change Committees.

"We have petition forms for each town and will be providing links for our online petitions in the coming days. These petitions will be presented to the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture in Bhisho and at national level in Parliament," says Samantha Graham-Maré, DA MP and
Dr Beyers Naude Constituency Leader.

"Be part of the fight against the Graaff-Reinet name change by completing an individual objection form and filling in our petition."For a copy of the objection form or to sign the petition, Graham-Maré or any of the DA councillors can be contacted. A petition has also been launched on www.change.org.za

This petition can be read and signed at https://chng.it/wgjPtxVh.
At the time of going to press this petition had been signed by 4 305 individuals.

PAIA application

Stakeholders do not accept Mandita's assertion that the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act prohibits the department from disclosing the identities of the two applicants who proposed the name changes.

Therefore, on Monday 16 October, the DA submitted a request under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to the Chairperson of the Eastern Cape Geographical Name Changes Committee, Christian Martin, requesting their names.

According to Graham-Maré, the best interest of fairness is not served by keeping the identity of a person hidden who have made a public application that has a bearing on entire towns and communities.

"The POPI Act stipulates that where the constitutional values of democracy and openness are at stake, unnecessary impediments to the free flow of information, including personal information, are required to be removed.

"To restore dignity to our people and address the injustices of the past, we need to find ways of improving lives through service delivery, economic growth, and employment opportunities. Name changes accomplish none of these. Our focus should be on changing lives, not changing names," says Graham-Maré.

Elizabeth Buisman, secretary of the Graaff-Reinet Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRPA) is also of the opinion that the identity of the applicants should be disclosed because it is in the public interest. Buisman said that the GRRPA referred this aspect to a legal expert for investigation.

Public participation

Public participation is a huge concern, particularly since Mandita concluded his presentation on the proposed name changes by pointing out that the names of other towns in the Eastern Cape have changed despite strong objections by the respective communities - Grahamstown objected to Makhanda and Port Elizabeth objected to Gqeberha - but both were unilaterally changed.

According to Graham-Maré it is of vital importance that government engage with the community instead of hiding what they are doing out of fear that the changes will be rejected.

"South Africans have the right to be consulted and participate in decisions that affect their interests," she says. "Renaming the fifth oldest town in South Africa most certainly requires thorough public participation and stakeholder engagement."

Buisman emphasised that public participation is legally required and that it is therefore illegal not to take the public's objections into account.

After the name changes were proposed, Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality spokesperson, Vuyisa Jantjies, assured the community that the municipality will, from their side, thoroughly inform the public about public participation on all media and social platforms.

To date there has been no public participation process in this regard.