South African Youth Crashes out Online After Finding Out the Country’s Name Could Be Changed Soon

• The youth of  South Africa shared their thoughts on the possible change of the country’s name in the near future 
• The African Transformation Movement (ATM) proposed the idea with the hopes of decolonising the country 
• The people of Mzansi have since debated about the party’s proposal across political, public and social media spaces 
• Briefly News chatted to a politically passionate youngster about the possible name change of the country

It has been a very busy week for South African people who had to deal with multiple hot topics.

One of the biggest and most talked-about issues is the possible name change of the country. A political party, the African Transformation Movement, sparked debate when they announced their idea to decolonise Mzansi.

The party’s president, Vuyo Zungula, argued that the name South Africa is a colonial imposition created by the British in the 1910s through the Union of South Africa. Zungula explained that other countries like Namibia (formerly known as South West Africa) changed their colonial names to reflect local history and pride.

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SA youth rejects ATM’s proposal for country name change

The South African youth have shared their thoughts online about the possible name change of the country to Azania. The youngsters explained that it would be very unnecessary and the process would distract from other, more important issues from being looked into.

A young lady on TikTok, Nsaseko Maluleke, shared her reaction video with the caption:

“Making us sound like a poor country.”

The youngster’s video attracted more people to share their thoughts about the possible name change in a thread of comments. S few people out of the 2,993 people who participated in the thread were excited for South Africa being changed to Azania.

Watch the TikTok video below:

Why the name Azania, and what does it mean?

The name Azania was linked to the Black Consciousness Movement that was popular in the apartheid era. Parties like the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) popularised the term.

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A Black Consciousness theorist, George Wauchope, mentioned that anyone who identified with the name Azania identified with the aspirations of the oppressed people for liberation.

Briefly News chats to youngster about possible country name change

A passionate young woman, Onele Deleki, weighed in on the possible name change of the country to Azania:

“Historically, Azania wasn't originally used by the people of our land; it was used by foreign traders to refer to certain parts of Africa (South Africa included). South Africa did not have a name before colonialism; we just had different kingdoms and chiefdoms. That is why foreign traders needed a name to describe us. During the apartheid era, Azania was adopted by black consciousness movements as a way of rejecting the name 'South Africa'. Remember that South Africa is not a name, it's literally just a geographical name.

“Organisations like the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) and PAC popularised the name Azania. Steve Biko is said to be the one who reclaimed the word and made it a symbol of resistance to colonialism. For many years, liberals referred to South Africa as 'Azania'. The name was not invented by our indigenous people; it was a name that was used to describe us.

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“I fully support the decolonisation of the name 'South Africa', and I genuinely love the name Azania. But I also find it a bit contradictory because the name only exists. After all, we, as indigenous people, didn't have a name for our country. It doesn't exist because we came up with it.

“I get why some people are against changing the name, but the argument shouldn't be based on conspiracy theories or some sort of attachment to the name South Africa.”

SA shares thoughts on renaming country to Azania

The people of South Africa were not impressed and shared their thoughts on the possible name change:

@soyama commented:

“Azania sounds like a poor country in the depths of Africa.”

@mo x explained:

“‘South Africa’ is merely the country’s geographical location; that being the name of our country is quite sad, it’s a reminder of what our ancestors were robbed of. They should change the country’s name.”

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@ℒℴ𝓁𝒶－ˡᵒᵛᵉˡʸsaid:

“Nelson did not fight for this country to be named Azania ever.”

@Mabogoana Propaganda🇿🇦highlighted:

“But it was called Azania before colonisation and all that.”

@Spydii 🕷️✝️🇿🇦asked:

“For those who are advocating for the name change, quick question. How exactly is changing the name of our country going to solve the issues of corruption, unemployment, poverty and crime in our country? I’m just asking”

@riley shared:

“Yho, the government and focusing on things that aren't important.”

3 More youth-related stories by Briefly News

• The Black South African youth shared the biggest burden of finally being the 33% that secured a job in Mzansi.
• The youth of South Africa have shared their concerns with the President’s silence about the corruption and gender-based violence incidents in the country.
• A young South African woman from Johannesburg shared how a Boko Haram syndicate had followed her since 2019.

Source: Briefly News