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At least 15 000 people have allegedly voiced their objection to the Eastern Cape Geographical Names Council’s (ECGNC) attempt to implement a name change from Cradock to Nxuba.
According to Kobus Botha, DA EC Midlands Constituency Leader, the ECGNC does not have a website or online platform where individuals can access information, find notices of public hearings, provide input, or even find the names and contact information of authorities they need to engage with, making it impossible to contact the council. He also said the ECGNC is not "following due public participation processes".
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“The current way the ECGNC is dealing with name changes in the province is trampling on these democratic freedoms, by excluding the very people most affected from the process,” said Botha.
On Heritage Day, September 24, over 100 people gathered and handed over signed petitions at the internationally renowned Cradock Four memorial, honouring anti-apartheid activists Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli, and Sparrow Mkhonto.
The DA, together with Cradock Business Chamber and various other civil society organisations, handed over signed petitions to DA Shadow MEC for Sport, Recreation Arts and Culture, Nomvano Zibonda, who sits on the portfolio committee that oversees the ECGNC.
Botha further said name changes have become "a box-ticking exercise, with no meaningful engagement with the communities concerned".
“If the ECGNC want the residents of Cradock to consider a name change, they need to come back and engage with residents in a meaningful way, with due notice, and ask the residents for their views,” said Botha.
