All the big name changes for South African cities, towns, and villages in 2024

The South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC) has been actively reshaping the country’s geographical identity through an extensive program of renaming cities, towns, villages, and other notable features, and this continued in 2024.

Established under the South African Geographical Names Council Act of 1998, the SAGNC is tasked with standardising geographical names while addressing historical imbalances and transforming the nation’s naming landscape.

To date, the council has officially gazetted and renamed 1,505 geographical features across South Africa, including towns, settlements, rivers, mountains, roads, and airports.

KwaZulu-Natal has seen the highest number of name changes, followed closely by the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

Among the 1,505 changes, 85 involved towns, with some representing newly recorded names for towns previously without official titles.

The year 2024 has been marked by a flurry of significant changes.

In South Africa’s most populous metro, the iconic William Nicol Drive was renamed Winnie Mandela Drive, with new signage installed early in the year.

Meanwhile, the historic town of Ladysmith underwent a more contentious transformation, officially adopting the name uMnambithi after 180 years.

While the renaming sparked mixed reactions, it underscores the SAGNC’s commitment to revisiting colonial-era names.

Some of the most notable name changes or proposed changes in 2024 included:

• William Nicol to Winnie Mandela;
• Ladysmith to uMnambithi;
• Kirkwood to Nqweba;
• Graaff-Reinet to Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe;
• Aberdeen to Camdeboo; and
• East London to KuGompo

These adjustments aim to reflect South Africa’s cultural and historical diversity while fostering inclusivity and national pride.

New Sports, Arts, and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie has been a vocal advocate for these changes.

Responding to a parliamentary inquiry, the minister revealed that the SAGNC and the Provincial Geographical Names Committees (PGNCs) are ramping up their efforts to transform the geographical naming landscape.

This includes conducting awareness campaigns through national broadcasting and social media platforms to educate the public on the importance of these changes.

Despite the ongoing momentum, the process of renaming remains rooted in community participation.

Minister McKenzie emphasised that the SAGNC Act, the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA), and United Nations resolutions on geographical names all mandate public involvement in these decisions.

Communities, especially those historically marginalised, play a pivotal role in initiating and supporting new names.

Municipalities are tasked with facilitating public consultations to ensure inclusivity and transparency.

Calls for centralised authority over name changes have been met with resistance. When asked about granting the minister direct powers to institute name-change processes, McKenzie reiterated the importance of grassroots involvement.

“It is crucial for the minister to rely on the involvement of both municipalities and the public,” he said, highlighting the democratic ethos underpinning the SAGNC’s work.

Looking ahead, South Africans can anticipate a surge in name-change initiatives.

Currently, there are 66 pending applications for renaming various geographical features.

These proposals reflect the SAGNC’s ongoing mission to create a more representative and inclusive geographical naming system that resonates with the nation’s diverse heritage.

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