What's in a name? Identity issues in South Africa. Expensive waste, heritage restored and respected or something else all together?

Three months ago I flew in to Johannesburg International Airport and when I leave next year I will be flying out of O.R. Tambo International Airport. Yes, I will be flying out of the same airport but the South African government has elected to change the name even though when it changed the name from Jans Smuts International Airport to Johannesburg International Airport in 1994 a law was passed that airports could not be named after politicians. Jans Smuts was a politician so the rule made sense after taking his name away from the airport but in naming it after Oliver Reginald Tambo a celebrated figure in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa who was ironically enough a politician it seems that there is a contradiction or bending of the rules in naming the airport after him.

Another part of the controversy/debate here is over the expensive cost of changing the names of airports, schools, towns/cities, provinces, streets and more. It seems that South Africa’s name changing renaissance is continuing and many feel that it is costing too much money but others think it is fair to honor former and present South African heroes and to give credit to the ruling party or majority of South Africans. O.R. Tambo Int. Airport is only the latest in this debate and not on the same scale as the name change of South Africa’s capitol from Pretoria to Tshwane.

Back in 2003 news24.com a South African news website reported that the name change had been put on hold but then in March of 2005 Pretoria’s City Council voted to change the name to Tshwane if the central government approved it. Then on May 27^th 2005 BBC reported that the Geographic Names Council had given its approval to the name change. While some signs in and going to Tshwane say Tshwane others say Pretoria and there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to it. Most people I have spoken to still report to SA’s capitol as Pretoria.

I watched a program on TV a few weeks ago about the province of KwaZulu Natal (or KZN), which for about 150 years prior to 1994 was known as Natal, a name that the British gave to it in the 1840’s. Prior to that it was known as Zululand (KwaZulu in Zulu) and thus when the ANC came in to power in 1994 it was given a new name KwaZulu Natal. This new name was a compromise that combined the two names most historically associated with the area and seemed to be a good solution. Yet, the name change didn’t end the talk about the appropriateness of KwaZulu Natal and this discussion continues today.

So the debate continues and who is to say which side (there are many) is right on this one. All I know is that lots of time, energy and money is being spent on this which could be spent on other “more” important things such as housing, poverty reduction, etc. On the other hand if a name change is what people really need to feel that their heritage is being respected, motivate them and remove some of the pain of the past then maybe these name changes are a good thing. Just like the controversial 2010 World Cup that will be coming here this issue will be discussed and debated for many years to come. As an outsider this is just one of the interesting issues that I am getting to see and hear about from many sides while here in South Africa.

Additional reading:

Here is an online discussion from Commentary.co.za on the airport issue.

Here is an article from Wikipedia on the airport name change with some interesting history on this airport before, during and after apartheid.

Here is an article on street names being changed from Jobrug.org.za called “The word on the street is change”

If you want to find out more just pick your search words carefully and go to Google or another search engine, as there is plenty out there as these name changing issues continue to be argued and debated.