Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Wants to Change Gqeberha Back to PE
- Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Nqaba Bhanga does not like Gqeberha as the new name for Port Elizabeth
- The mayor wants the city's name changed back to Port Elizabeth from Gqeberha
- He believes that the name is not inclusive and that it does not mean anything in isiXhosa
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Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Nqaba Bhanga has requested in writing that Port Elizabeth remains the name of the city. He claims that Gqeberha has no meaning for the people living there. He has requested that Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa reverse the name change.
His spokesperson, Morne Steyn confirmed that the mayor is against the renaming of the city. He said that the mayor does not believe that the name is inclusive.
Bhanga believes that Gqeberha has no isiXhosa meaning and the city should still be called Port Elizabeth. An online petition has been signed by more than 48 000 people calling for President Cyril Ramaphosa to change the name back to PE according to News24.
Source: Facebook
Earlier, Briefly.co.za reported that the South African government has officially approved and gazetted 13 name changes from towns to airports. Port Elizabeth is the big one with the Friendly City's name being changed to Gqeberha.
Reports say that the name change process was lengthy and lasted around two years. At this time, residents were given the opportunity to challenge the name changes that were proposed. Back in 2019, PE residents were not impressed by the possible name change.
The PE International Airport and several other towns, such as Berlin, Uitenhage, and King Williams Town's name changes were also recognised by Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa.
In other news, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has expressed its distaste for the name changes of certain areas in the Eastern Cape. Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) has been trending on social media since the news broke of the gazetted name change.
The party plans to submit written parliamentary questions to the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture regarding the name changes. The DA wants to know the cost of changing the names and the public participation process.
Plans to change the names of airports and towns in the Eastern Cape go back as far as 2019 when various residents opposed the name changes.
According to News24, DA Spokesperson Veronica van Dyk says it is important to question whether the public and residents were given adequate time to make their voices heard on the issue of the name changes.
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Source: Briefly News
