Question NW1835 to the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture
02 September 2021 - NW1835
Van Dyk, Ms V to ask the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture
1. what are the details of the total projected costs that will be incurred (a) by the various role players involved in and (b) due to the changes in the official geographical names of each of the nine airports, villages, human settlements, cities, and towns in the eastern cape, as announced in government gazette no 44181 on 23 February 2021; 2. what are the details of (a) the public participation process(es) followed before finalising the name changes in each case, (b) the (i) dates on which and (ii) places where each public participation meeting took place and (c) the support and/or objections received in each case for each proposed geographical name change?
Reply:
1. Costs incurred to date for
(i) Advertisements on newspapers is R42 209 19
(ii) Venues for local consultations were provided by municipalities free of charge
(iii) Honoraria paid to the Eastern Cape Provincial Geographical Names Committee is R 23 998.19
(iv) Honoraria paid to the South African Geographical Names Council for its sitting is R147 986.00.
(2) Details of consultations and dates. The Provincial Geographical Names Committee did consultations on all twenty-three names at the same meetings as follows:-
NELSON MANDELA METRO
- 13 November 2018 Raymond Mhlaba Sports Centre.
- 14 November 2018 Port Elizabeth City Hall.
- 20 November 2018 Uitenhage Town Hall.
- 21 November 2018 Chatty Community Hall.
- 22 November 2018 Nangoza Jebe Hall.
MACLEAR
- 27 February 2019 Town Hall.
BUFFALO CITY
- 19 November 2010 King Williamstown Town Hall.
- 21 November 2019 Berlin Town Hall.
- 26 November 2019 East London City Hall.
OBJECTIONS TO THE NAME CHANGES
Objections that were received were for Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality names as community members that lodged objections argued that the processes of public consultations were inadequate, and some were unhappy with change of name of Port Elizabeth to Gqeberha. The main objections were for renaming of Port Elizabeth to Gqeberha.
The Eastern Cape Provincial Geographical Names Committee’s Objections Committee subsequently sat for Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality in 2019 and found the objections to be baseless as the consultation processes were thorough and Gqeberha was for the popular choice.
In relation to Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, objection was for East London, and for East London Airport, new names were submitted being Steve Biko Airport, King Hintsa Airport and Chief Phato Airport.
The Eastern Cape Provincial Geographical Names Committee subsequently sat for Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality and processes were found to be sufficiently consulted in relation to Qonce, Ntabozuko and King Phalo Airport. However, in relation to East London, the name of Gompo was found to be problematic as there was already a settlement with that name in the city. A new name has to be agreed upon, and the ECPGNC is ceased with this task.