{"id":864511,"date":"2026-06-24T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=864511"},"modified":"2026-06-24T14:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:21:09","slug":"more-name-changes-for-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/864511\/more-name-changes-for-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"More name changes for South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture has gazetted further name changes for South Africa, focused on small villages and various natural features in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest change will see the village of Nebo in the Sekhukhune district municipality of Limpopo renamed to Lefakong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two other villages have been registered in the UGu district municipality in KZN under new names, including eNgcawusheni and eMbeni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from the new names for villages, the department has noted 13 other new registrations of names for various rivers, hills and mountains in the same UGu district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full list of changes can be seen below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New name<\/th>Old Name<\/th>Province<\/th>Feature<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Lefakong<\/td>Nebo<\/td>Limpopo<\/td>Village<\/td><\/tr>
eNgcawusheni<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>Village<\/td><\/tr>
eMbeni<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>Village<\/td><\/tr>
uThuli<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>Mountain<\/td><\/tr>
uMgciba<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>Mountain<\/td><\/tr>
uSimakade<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>Mountain<\/td><\/tr>
eThafeni<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>Mountain<\/td><\/tr>
uMagantshu<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>Mountain<\/td><\/tr>
uMbeni<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>Mountain<\/td><\/tr>
iMpongwana<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>Hill<\/td><\/tr>
eStinini<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>River<\/td><\/tr>
iSijoti<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>River<\/td><\/tr>
iDakane<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>River<\/td><\/tr>
uMkhukhuse<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>River<\/td><\/tr>
iChichichi<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>River<\/td><\/tr>
iNhlambamasoka<\/td>–<\/td>KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>River<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The changes were approved by DSAC minister Gayton McKenzie after being processed by the South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In line with the South African Geographical Names Act, anyone dissatisfied with any changes or new names may object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objections should be lodged with the minister within 30 days of the gazette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, the objection process is one of many processes involved with name changes that could be changed soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will be done through the Draft South African Geographical Names Council Amendment Bill, which is currently being processed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Draft Bill seeks to\u00a0amend the South African Geographical Names Council Act<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by 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, allegations of a lack of consultation, and thousands of objections afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the proposed changes to the laws, an Appeals Tribunal for name changes will be established, with specific timelines to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tribunal will have 90 days to decide an appeal\u2014though the bill makes it clear that the Tribunal’s decisions are explicitly final and binding, subject only to court review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the core shifts with the Tribunal, however, is that objections won’t be thrown at the minister’s feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister\u2019s role is to gazette the change at the end of a much longer process. However, objections are currently lodged directly with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the new proposed system, the Minister must consider council recommendations within 90 days of receipt and publish the decision within 30 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objections and appeals are then handled by the Appeals Tribunal, which makes a binding decision. Following that process, the matter would have to be escalated to the courts for relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proposed name change process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1<\/td>Filling out an application form, which is then submitted to the SAGNC after being reviewed by the Provincial Geographical Names Committee<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>The SAGNC will then assess the application to determine whether it meets the requirements set out in the standard operating procedure.<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>Once the SAGNC has satisfied itself that the application meets all the requirements, it recommends the name change and sends the recommendation to the Minister<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>The Minister must consider the proposal within 90 days of receipt and, if approved, must gazette the changes within 30 days of making a decision.<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>After gazetting, anyone who is not satisfied with the decision still has about 30 days to object to the name change.<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>The Appeals Tribunal will have 90 days to decide an appeal and issue a binding ruling.<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>After the objection process has been finalised, the matter can be taken to court if still not satisfied.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The full gazette is below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n