\u201cMy view is that we are moving at a very slow pace considering that since the Act was passed in 1998, we are only at some 1,500 names,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I can tell you that there are still a number of names that still need to be standardised,” adding that “if we don\u2019t move very quickly now, this may take longer than it\u2019s actually supposed to be.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that, while there is no set target for name changes, some in South African society do not embrace transformation, making it a “never-ending process”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe reason would be, among other things, there are quite a number of sections of the society that are simply anti-transformation,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SAGNC is the body that advises the government on how the country names and renames its places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The council operates under the South African Geographical Names Council Act, which is set for changes in the near future as the government aims to strengthen the name-change process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This will be done through the Draft South African Geographical Names Council Amendment Bill, which was open for public comment until recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Draft Bill seeks to amend the South African Geographical Names Council Act<\/strong><\/a> by more clearly defining consultation processes involved with name changes and creating an appeal process, among other changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The country has seen over 1,500 name changes processed since the council was established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This includes major towns and cities, such as the renaming of Port Elizabeth to Gqeberha in 2021, and more recently, the renaming of East London to KuGompo City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, whenever these name changes occur, there is often a huge public outcry and allegations of a lack of consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many claim to have never been aware of any name change processes underway, and that, if any, public hearings are not communicated efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opposition parties, in particular, have hit back at the processes, saying that the changes are often pushed through despite opposition, with no way to appeal them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new laws aim to address this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mohlala said the key changes to the laws will go a long way in clearing the hurdles that bog down name change processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The appeal tribunal is a critical feature, as people who are unsatisfied with name changes currently raise their objections directly with the minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The minister’s role is to gazette the change at the end of a much longer process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe believe that by bringing in an appeals board or committee or a tribunal, we might close that gap,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that defining consultation and the processes is also a critical step, as this hasn’t been part of the laws before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Over the years, there has never been a definition of what constitutes consultation,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Now, the thing being that we\u2019ve been through court, and it was through judgments that were given by the court that we have come to an understanding of what satisfies the court as sufficient consultation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Draft Bill defines consultation as a \u201cmandatory, multi-stakeholder engagement process conducted in good faith to solicit, consider, and incorporate informed views”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These views are “from relevant communities, authorities, and experts on proposed geographical names or name changes, prior to evaluation, recommendation, or approval\u201d, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the changes, the process for name changes will be more clearly defined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mohlala said that name changes are an emotive issue, and more can be done around public awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, he insisted that it is a process that is crucial to restoring people’s dignity and part of reparations to the people of South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe cannot continue to be a proud people if we get offended by some of the names that we see on signboards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With SA News<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The South African Geographical Names Council says the renaming of cities, towns and other features in the country is too slow\u2014and new laws should accelerate the process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":831114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[21961,19935],"class_list":["post-858838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-name-changes","tag-sagnc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858838"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":858844,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858838\/revisions\/858844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/831114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Changes to the process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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