Sport, Arts and Culture minister Nathi Mthethwa has approved several new name changes for South Africa.<\/p>\n
The changes, which were gazetted on Wednesday (16 March), primarily impact the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces, with towns, areas and settlements seeing their names changed.<\/p>\n
Several other areas had new names officially registered in terms of the South African Geographical Names Council Act. The Eastern Cape provincial government is also considering additional name changes<\/a><\/strong> as part of a public consultation process.<\/p>\n The minister has previously said that the transformation of the naming landscape in South Africa is \u2018a critical component of the heritage landscape as a whole\u2019.<\/p>\n “There was a need for the name changes as this is part of a government programme to transform South Africa\u2019s heritage landscape. The names of places we live in reflect the identity and cultural heritage of the people of South Africa,” he said.<\/p>\n The full list of name changes is detailed below.<\/p>\n In February 2021, Mthethwa announced a number of name changes in the Eastern Cape which he said were for transformation purposes.<\/p>\n Some of the most notable changes included:<\/p>\n\n\n
\n Old name<\/th>\n New name<\/th>\n Geographical feature and area<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n Mount Fletcher<\/td>\n Tlokoeng<\/td>\n Town (Eastern Cape)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n St Augustine<\/td>\n Mahlubini<\/td>\n Village (Eastern Cape)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Driehoek<\/td>\n Uhlelo<\/td>\n Area (Mpumalanga)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Donkerhoek<\/td>\n eNtababusuku<\/td>\n Area (Mpumalanga)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Allmansdrift<\/td>\n Maphanga<\/td>\n Settlement (Mpumalanga)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n \n
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