Pretoria won't allow dictator street names
By Barry Bateman
A list of 75 names proposed for inclusion in the city's street names bank was rejected at a sitting of the Metro Council's Public Place and Streets Names Committee on Thursday.
The committee, consisting of 15 representatives from various political parties, gave the thumbs-down to names such as those of life presidents and dictators Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.
A report on the issue said the names proposed were aimed at Africanising the city.
'It will create an extremely bad impression during the 2010 World Cup'
The city's toponymy division researched possible names for approval - submitted by the public - before presenting them to the Public Place and Streets Names Committee and the council.
Only names approved by the council are included in the names bank. The aim of the report was to obtain approval for the inclusion of names of prominent people into the street names bank.
The bank is a list of accepted and approved street names available for use by developers and the community.
Conrad Beyers, a Freedom Front Plus member of the committee, welcomed the rejection of the list and said his party voiced vigorous opposition to the proposed names.
He said most of the proposed names were of unknown people, including relatively young people, who were still alive.
"The list also included names of African dictators and human rights violators like Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.
"Also, living dictators of one-party states like Gabon's Omar Bongo and Cameroon's Paul Biya were proposed for street names in Pretoria," he said.
Beyers said an attachment to the report mentioned that the names of Robert Mugabe and Muammar Gaddafi should also be seriously considered for road names for the capital.
"We find it strange that it has been considered to honour people who perpetuate the image of political instability in Africa.
"It will create an extremely bad impression during the 2010 World Cup when visitors see how African dictators are held in high honour in the capital of South Africa," Beyers said.
The general rules for naming public places and streets stipulate that the historical, social, cult- ural and emotional concerns of residents must be considered and that names should preferably have a South African character or connection.
It says names of living people should be avoided except where they were truly of national or international significance.
Council spokesman Richard Mkholo said the list was compiled from recommendations submitted by the public.
He said the committee received thousands of recommendations which it deliberated on and either rejected or proposed to the mayoral committee before presenting them at a full council meeting.
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News Source: www.iol.co.za
