List of renamed places in South Africa

Since 1994, many places in South Africa which have been renamed for political, ethnic or even economic reasons. These name changes were initially intended to remove politically motivated, incorrectly spelt or names no longer thought to be accecptible (such as those named after apartheid leaders) from the South African landscape. Many places are now named after anti-apartheid activists. The following article covers the name changes in South Africa by province since the first democratic elections in 1994.

A number of places in South Africa had been renamed before 1994. These name changes were much rarer.

Eastern Cape

As of March 2014, the Eastern Cape has changed the name of 134 places, placing it third nationally after Mpumalanga and the Limpopo provinces.[1] Most name changes have been correcting misspellings in the former homelands of Transkei and Ciskei (see below). There have also been a number of name change proposals in the western half of the province for place names of Afrikaans or English origin.

Settlements

Airports

Free State

The Free State has only experienced minor name changes. A number of settlements have been slated for renaming but none have thus far gone ahead. Bloemfontein, the provincial and national capital, is planned to be renamed Mangaung after the township it borders and the municipality it lies in.

The province recently renamed the only international airport in Bloemfontein after anti-apartheid activist Bram Fischer. The airport's name had to be changed twice after the first renaming forgot to add International to the name.[3]

Gauteng

Gauteng, South Africa's most urbanised province, has seen a number of name changes. Probably the most controversial name change in South African history has been that of Pretoria, where there have been proposals to change the city's name to Tshwane (already the name of the metropolitan area it lies in).

Settlements
  • Verwoerdburg → Centurion (1994)
    • The first name change in post-1994 South Africa. Verwoerdburg was named after Hendrik Verwoerd, the so-called "architect of Apartheid" and was deemed offensive to many people and was changed to the neutral name of Centurion.
  • Sophiatown → Triomf (1954) → Sophiatown (2006)
    • In 2006 the suburb of Triomf had its name restored to Sophiatown. Before 1954 the area (then named Sophiatown) was mostly occupied by blacks but were forcibly moved due to it being near local white suburbs. The area was rezoned as Triomf (Afrikaans for "Triumph") with the former name restored 52 years later.

Johannesburg

In 2007 the Johannesburg Development Agency changed two street names named after apartheid era ministers:[4]

In 2014 the city administration continued the renaming of important streets in the city in order to "celebrate the city's shared past".[5]

Pretoria
Some changes in Pretoria Central

In early 2012, 27 streets in central Pretoria had their name changed to reflect a "shared history" of the city.[6][7] The streets renamed were;

  • Walker-/Charles Street → Justice Mahomed Street
  • Proes Street → Johannes Ramokhoase Street
  • Duncan Street → Jan Shoba Street
  • Genl. Louis Botha Drive → January Masilela Drive
  • Esselen Street → Robert Sobukwe Street
  • Vermeulen Street → Madiba Street
  • Schubart Street→ Sophie de Bruyn Street
  • Potgieter Street → Kgosi Mampuru Street
  • Prinsloo Street → Sisulu Street
  • Skinner Street → Nana Sita Street
  • Jacob Maré Street → Jeff Masemola Street
  • Queen Wilhelmina Street → Florence Ribeiro Avenue
  • Van der Walt Street → Lillian Ngoyi Street
  • Andries Street → Thabo Sehume Street
  • DF Malan Drive → Eskia Mphahlele Drive
  • Hans Strijdom Drive → Solomon Mahlangu[8] Drive
  • Mitchell Street → Charlotte Maxeke Street
  • Schoeman Street → Francis Baard Street
  • Zambezi Drive → Sefako Makgatho Drive
  • Hendrik Verwoerd Drive → Johan Heyns Drive
  • Beatrix/Mears/Voortrekker Street → Steve Biko Street
  • Church Street from Nelson Mandela Drive to the east → Stanza Bopape Street
  • Church Street from Nelson Mandela Drive to Church Square → Helen Joseph Street
  • Church Street from Church Square to the R511 → WF Nkomo Street
  • Church Street from the R511 to the west → Elias Motswaledi Street
  • Michael Brink Street → Nico Smith Street
  • Leah Mangope Street → Peter Magano Street
  • Lucas Mangope Street → Molefe Makinta Street

Pretoria's new Street names[9] all have background history to who these people are.

Airports

KwaZulu-Natal

The KwaZulu-Natal province was formed in 1994 from the merger of the then province of Natal and former bantustan of KwaZulu.

Settlements
  • Stanger → KwaDukuza (2006)
    • KwaDukuza was the historic capital of the Zulu but was burnt to the ground in 1828. In 1873 European settlers founded the town Stanger on the site. The town is still commonly and also sometimes officially referred to as Stanger despite being renamed to KwaDukuza in 2006.

Dams

Airport

Limpopo
Old N1 sign showing the city of Polokwane's former name Pietersburg
N1 sign showing Polokwane's new name

The most northerly province of South Africa, the Limpopo province saw some of the earliest name changes and to date more than any other province. The province was carved out of the former Transvaal and initially named the Northern Transvaal until the following year when it was known simply as the Northern Province. It kept this name until 2002[11] when it was renamed after the Limpopo River which forms South Africa's border with Zimbabwe. Settlement name changes especially targeted places of Afrikaans origin, such as Pietersburg (Polokwane), Nylstroom (Modimolle) and Ellisras (Lephalale), while avoiding places with Bantu or English names such as Northam, Alldays, Tzaneen and Thabazimbi. The Limpopo is the most ethnically black province in South Africa (96.7% as of 2011) and is likely to have made the name changes go smoother because of a lack of opposition from minority groups which are usually against name changes.

Settlements
  • Warmbaths (Afrikaans: Warmbad) → Bela-Bela[11]
  • Ellisras → Lephalale[11]
  • Louis Trichardt → Makhado (2003) → Louis Trichardt (2007)[11]
    • The town was renamed Makhado in 2003, but was later in 2007 reverted to the original name of Louis Trichardt.
  • Nylstroom → Modimolle[11]
  • Duiwelskloof → Modjadjiskloof[11]
    • Unlike most name changes, Duiwelskloof kept the Afrikaans suffix "-kloof" (meaning valley) in its new name. The name "Ngoako Ramalepe" was also proposed.
  • Dendron → Mogwadi[11]
  • Potgietersrus → Mokopane[11]
  • Naboomspruit → Mookgophong[11]
    • The new name has sometimes been incorrectly spelled "Mookgopong".
  • Soekmekaar → Morebeng
    • Morebeng has also been spelt "'Morbeng"
  • Messina → Musina[11]
  • Pietersburg → Polokwane[11] (capital)
    • Polokwane was at first sometimes misspelled as "Pholokwane".
  • Bochum → Senwabarwana[11]
  • Vaalwater → Mabatlane (2006) → Vaalwater (2007)

Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga, itself renamed in 1995 from the Eastern Transvaal, has seen the entire northern half of the province renamed since 2005. As with the Limpopo province, most of the changes have affected names of Afrikaans origin, but also some with British links. These have included the capital, Nelspruit (Mbombela) as well as Witbank (eMalahleni) and Lydenburg (Mashishing). Unlike the Limpopo, the name changes in Mpumalanga have largely (as of 2011) been ignored and apart from the city of Witbank, road signs and usage of the new names has been rare.[12] Some names of Bantu origin have also been changed, because they were misspelled by early settlers, due to errors in transcription, such as Malelane, which was corrected to Malalane.

Settlements

North West

In May 2013 North West province premier Thandi Modise said the province needed to be renamed and not just be referred to as a "direction on a compass".[14] One of the suggestions has been to rename North West after politician and activist Moses Kotane. There is, however, already a municipality in the province named after him.

Settlements
  • Mafeking → Mafikeng → Mahikeng
    • British settlers first spelt the town as Mafeking but was renamed Mafikeng in 1980 upon incorporation into the bantustan of Bophuthatswana. In February 2010 the town was again renamed to Mahikeng. Residents still refer to the town as Mafikeng both informally and formally.

Northern Cape

The Northern Cape is the only province in South Africa not having undergone any known significant name changes since 1994. The province has an Afrikaans-speaking majority and it is unlikely the local population there favour any name changes.

Western Cape
Helen Suzman Boulevard in Cape Town, renamed from Western Boulevard in 2011

The Western Cape has experienced only a few minor street name changes in the largest cities. There have, however, been a number of suggested name changes, particularly on the southern coast of the province, such as for the towns of George or Mossel Bay.

Streets

Four street names have already been changed: Oswald Pirow Street was changed to Christiaan Barnard Street, Eastern Boulevard took Nelson Mandela's name, while the concourse between the Artscape Theatre Centre and the Civic Centre was renamed after Albert Luthuli. The pedestrian section of Castle Street is to be renamed after Khoisan leader Krotoa. Table Bay Boulevard was renamed FW de Klerk Boulevard.

An additional change – Western Boulevard to Helen Suzman Boulevard – was introduced by special council resolution.

Airports

References
  1. Mothowagae, Daniel (9 March 2014). "Where the hell are we?". News24.com. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  2. http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=59811 Archived 13 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Bloem airport name change commotion". News24.com. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  4. "Hendrik Verwoerd Drive is no longer | IOL". IOL. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  5. Yollie. "city of Johannesburg - New street names celebrate Joburg's shared past … and future". www.joburg.org.za. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  6. Tshwane.gov.za (new street names for central Pretoria) - retrieved 4 February 2016
  7. "Pretoria's New Street Names". showme.co.za. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  8. "Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu | Pretoria". showme.co.za. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  9. "Pretoria's New Street Names". showme.co.za. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  10. Ewisa.co.za, name change occurred in 2000 - Retrieved 12/09/2013
  11. "All but 2 Limpopo towns renamed". News24.
  12. "Residents stick to 'old' city names". News24.
  13. "New geographical name changes in Mpumalanga - Mpumalanga Provincial Government". mpumalanga.gov.za.
  14. News24 North West name change Retrieved 8/9/2013
  15. Matangira, Lungelo. "Process to rename CT International Airport underway". Retrieved 4 November 2018.
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