City of Johannesburg Propose Sandton Drive Name Change, Netizens Debate

• The City of Johannesburg has proposed that Sandton Drive be changed to Leila Khaled Drive
• The name change comes one year after William Nichol Drive was renamed Winnie Mandela Drive
• South Africans were displeased with the name change proposal and called it a waste of money AND TIME

With over seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News, Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist, offered insights into South African politics, national, provincial and local governance, the Government of National Unity, political parties and Parliament.

JOHANNESBURG—Johannesburg is planning another street name change to Sandton Drive.

Sandton Drive could be renamed

The City of Johannesburg shared the name change proposal. A notice stated that it proposed renaming Sandton Drive to Leila Khaled Drive. Leila Khaled is a former Palestinian militant known for hijacking two planes between the 1960s and 1970s.

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According to The South African, Johannesburg ward councillor, Martin Williams observed that Khaled made no meaningful contribution to the development of the City and has no ties to Johannesburg.

South Africans dispute

South Africans on Facebook objected to the proposed name change as it was not the first time a proposal to change Sandton Drive was made.

Murray Mackintosh said:

"What an absolute waste of time and money! Deliver basic services first before these wasteful, unwanted and frivolous initiatives."

Dennis Wood said:

"Good at name changing, hopeless at governance and providing service deliveries."

Terry Ralph said:

"Forget the children in underprivileged areas who need an education. Forget the unemployed. Forget the infrastructure. Just spend a fortune changing street names."

Tahb'sile Ledwaba said:

"We want to keep it as Sandton Drive."

Elaine Bernstein du Preez said:

"That would be an absolute disgrace. We don't need the name of a Palestinian woman on our streets."

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Resident wants street named after Siya Kolisi

In a related article, Briefly News reported that a South African wanted a street name renamed after Siya Kolisi.

He wanted a name in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape to be named after the Springbok captain, but many didn't think Siya would like the name change.

Source: Briefly News