They include the names of political figures such as Julius Malema, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma, Helen Zille, Tokyo Sexwale and Chris Hani.
Names of people the community holds dear – such as Amy Biehl, Rachel Hayman and Nkosi Johnson – and other names such as Ubuntu, Mighty City and Cemetery streets have also been suggested.
Brett Herron, chairman of the naming committee, said the renaming of the infamous “NY” streets was an opportunity for community building.
“We are pleased with the range of submissions that reflects a range of interest groups in Gugulethu. With this renaming project we have the chance to eliminate symbols of the painful apartheid approach to planning and empower residents to build a suburb with dignified place markers.”
The renaming process was launched on National Heritage Day in September last year, with the final decision resting with city which will act on the advice of the mayor, Patricia de Lille, assisted by the naming committee.
The Name your Street campaign will split Gugulethu into eight “hoods”, which will be renamed by their residents.
The renaming process included door-to-door consultations to obtain as many proposals as possible for each NY street within the boundaries of a “hood”, and a comment process to finalise the names of each street.
The campaign was also publicised via adverts and social media.
Once all the proposals have been captured and evaluated, residents will have the opportunity to vote electronically via the Have Your Say section on the city's website and manually via voting booths located at schools and the Gugulethu Square shopping mall.
Herron added that according to the city’s street-naming policy, no offensive names could be used.
“We wanted to make sure anyone who lives in the area gets an opportunity to be part of the process.
“It has been very thorough, with over 700 submissions already. We are delighted.”
The City of Cape Town wants residents and interested parties to take part in the process before the March 31 deadline.
No comments:
Post a Comment