Culture minister sets cat among pigeons with SA renaming remark

THE Republic of Zuptania, Guptaburg and the Banana Republic of Guptastan, are some of the name changes Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa was slapped with after announcing a desire to change South Africa’s name this week.

The Sunday Tribune ran a snap poll on Facebook and Twitter, inviting our social media followers to put forward their recommendations to @Nathimthethwasa, the minister’s verified Twitter account.

Responses ranged from the bizarre, to funny, cringeworthy, silly and informed introspection of history and present-day South Africa.

The newspaper’s social media account, @Sundaytribunesa, received hundreds of responses from alarmed citizens who thought there were more pressing issues that needed attention, like “changing the direction” the country was going in for instance, noted @Siya_lota on Twitter.

Gender activist @Nomboniso-gasa, said the minister was creating a “diversion”.

During the ANC’S cadres forum in Durban this week, a resident told the minister that it was unacceptable for a liberated country to bear its Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa. colonial identity. Mthethwa agreed, telling party supporters that South Africa was only “a geographical description of where we are”.

“To tell the truth, the country does not have a name,” the Tribune’s sister publication, The Mercury, reported the minister as saying.

And so the responses fired in, many people outraged that in light of the technical recession, allegations of state capture, the frail economy and the burden of increasing unemployment. A name change should not be on the agenda, many argued.

On Twitter, @keobone said: “Don’t waste money on silly things at a time like this.”

Spike Farrell added: “South Africa is an all-inclusive name. I feel we have far more important things to sort out first.”

On Facebook, Nikki Holmes remarked: “We have bigger issues to solve… like crime and corruption.”

Robin Candy was scathing: “Change it to whatever name you like it still will not reverse the economic chaos the Guptaled government has caused.”

But some were in agreement with the minister and to those, Azania, was a popular choice for a new name for the country.

@Tloum0617 said: “Taking back our identity can never be silly.”

@martinmenge said: “South Africa should never have been a country, it only contains some of the states of what will be the Federal Republic of Azania.

@Noluthandogatya said: “South of Africa is not really a name so maybe it’s time to name our country.”

Others thought the name of the country had already changed, to “Radical Economic Transformation” and the many Gupta-inspired names.

It appears that the name change topic is one that would spark much debate should the government press on.

Political analyst Professor Somadoda Fikeni said the discourse around changing the country’s name should extend beyond just its name, and look at the names of the provinces.

“What is the North West if not a geographic space? What is Free State? Is it free from the rest of the country? What is the Northern, Eastern and Western Cape? It must be a comprehensive package.

“Can you imagine naming yourself as a halfway station of a temporary base for those who wanted to get to their desired destination of Dutch East India,” he said referring to the Cape of Good Hope, from which the names of the three provinces are geographically derived.

Fikeni said he did not believe the matter was an attempt at a diversion by the minister, but he said that there needed to be a “clear, well thought-out strategy” in this debate.

“These are issues that flare up and then they disappear. Radical stances seem to be around major conferences and developments,” he said.

Fikeni said that should South Africa change its name, the name replacing the Republic of South Africa should “speak to the principles that should guide that rather than the name itself”.

“There is a strong view that we can have a country that bears the name of the continent, but if the name is to change we must find a name that is all-inspiring and that has a meaning that captures our intent, that has resonance across all the cultural groups, not a name that will be politicised and belonging to a particular faction.

“It must be nothing less than an inspiring name that articulates our collective vision as a country. What is the country’s national interest? What is the desired national identity? What are the common values that undergird such a society? That to me is a more profoundly important discussion than picking up a name,” said Fikeni.

Attempts to get a response from the Department of Arts and Culture were unsuccessful.

See all the responses on http://bit.ly/renamesa

@Sihlesays