Correcting street, surbub names: Reclaiming identity

WHEN Cecil John Rhodes and his Pioneer Column started pegging out land and stands more than a century ago, they gave certain areas names that depicted who they were and what they stood for.

The country Zimbabwe therefore became an extension of Britain with names such as Fort Victoria, Hartley, Fort Charter, and Fort Salisbury which were representative of their heroes back home.

This meant blacks were disempowered of their social, economic and political way of life as the British tried to establish themselves as the rightful owners of the land, forcing locals to submit as labourers under white bondage. The white man who had taken away the land named streets and suburbs they had pegged out to resonate with who they were, probably with the hope of bringing the past into the present as it would be celebrated by their offsprings who they assumed would take over their legacy.

However, in the process of naming these suburbs and streets, there were misspellings that reconfigured our identity and this was never corrected in post-colonial Zimbabwe. Not only were streets and suburbs named, but also schools, hospitals and other public facilities were made as an appendage of colonialism that was carried over into post independence.

Thirty-six years down the line, some places still represent a narrative of colonial history with misspellings of suburbs and streets as part of history that was not corrected. Talk of misspellings of such names as Makokoba, Pelandaba, Lobengula, Nketa, Kumalo, and Matsheumhlope. All these names represent a direct distortion of a historical identity that is crying out loud for correction.

Names themselves often translate in us having value in ourselves as individuals and correcting them would mean celebrating the significance of such an identity that has already been reconfigured. However, some street names and suburbs are representative of historical heroes whose contribution to the identity of the people of Matebeleland can never be over-emphasised.

For example, Nketa (Nketha) was named after the Traditional Heritage Site of Nketha Hill on which King Lobengula assembled his entire kingdom and divided its citizens according to cultural ethnicity and different stages of incorporation into three groups the AbeZansi which means “south”, referring to the people who left the Zulu Kingdom, the Abenhla or Nxele which referred to the second mass incorporated group which was the Swati, Pedi, Sotho with whom they settled at Mhlahlandela 1 and the final group was the Hole, which constituted of the Shona, Kalanga and other ethnic groups King Mzilikazi found in present day Zimbabwe.

Similarly, Pumula (Phumula) means “a resting place”, reference to the fact that many have built homes there to retire and Makokoba (Makhokhoba) got its name from a M. Fallon, who because of old age used walk around with a bending back and an aid of a stick.

The name comes from the word “umakhokhoba” which was used by the locals to refer to Mr Fallon meaning “the little old man who walks with a stick”. It is the oldest African dwelling in the city and it became home to nationalistic political activism in the city.

Matsheumhlope comes from suburb’s association with river and means “White Stones”. White stones in SiNdebele and Zulu languages are amatshe amhlope while the name Lobengula (Lobhengula) which is derived from the second and last king of the Ndebele still remains uncorrected. The name Bulawayo is incorrect as it is meant to be KoBulawayo and is a colonial legacy that is still subconsciously lingering. Street naming is therefore, part of the post colonial politics of erasing the colonialist discourse in the search for a distinct national identity. This being said, it becomes imperative to say that such a colonial legacy is still being carried over and continues to dilute our identity and sense of being African.

It goes without saying that in every epoch, street names, suburbs and public institutions should be commemorative of history and merge the past into ordinary settings of human life. In essence, these should be embedded into our language as active participants, constructions and perceptions of our social reality.

Street names and suburbs should celebrate our identity, affirm the historical importance of minority groups and challenge traditional white dominated conceptions of the past. However, although not much has been done to correct these misspellings that represent a misconception of our African identity, a Bulawayo resident Mr Khumbulani Maphosa wrote to the Bulawayo City Council challenging the spellings as “linguistically and culturally wrong” names.

His bid to effect the changes hit a snag with reports that the local authority failed to give a directive to effect name changes due to financial constraints that are being faced by the local authority.

His argument still stands that the misspellings were distorting a language and translates to reconfiguring a culture — and a person without culture has no identity and ceases to exist.

In an interview with Sunday News last week Mr Maphosa said it was sad that this mistake was only being rectified now when the country gained its independence 36 years ago.

“It is sad that children have all along been learning the wrong spellings when we all have been seeing it happen all this time. We cannot ignore what happened in the past, but what is wrong needs to be corrected and that should be done with urgency. My goal is to correct not the names but the spellings of streets and suburbs in Bulawayo that were misspelt,” he said.

Although it has taken at least 36 years to correct such mistakes that reflect a gross reconfiguration of culture, Mr Maphosa believes the time is ripe for city fathers to consider correcting misspellings of street names in Bulawayo.

“It is a matter of correcting street names and making things right. Justice should always prevail and we cannot afford to have our identity changed because of what happened in colonial times,” said Mr Maphosa.

Arts and culture guru Mr Cont Mhlanga said he supported the move as language itself defines a people’s culture and the misspellings were a distortion of that language. Names, he said, represent a significant historical epoch for any human being and are also signifiers of identity.

“Yes, correcting names should have been done a long time ago. It marks a period of configuring our identity and also redefine narratives. Correcting these names will also bring about a preservation of our identity. Names themselves have a direct bearing of who we are,” he said.

Mr Mhlanga said the misspellings already had an impact on the generation as people had already inherited a wrong identity.

“We took a long time to correct this and the generation has already inherited a wrong identity. There is no connection on those spellings with who we are as individuals. Essentially our identity has been diluted. Knowledge is power and because we inherited those wrong spellings, we seem to be slaves because of wrong things that we have inherited. We have not adapted to learn the correct things, and this in itself puts a whole generation in jeopardy,” he said.

Linguist Dr Samukelo Hadebe also welcomed the move, but said misspellings were not a result of colonial legacy and policy system of the colonial system. He said there was no permanent identity and every generation was prone to have new values and systems that were generated over time.

“There is no permanent identity and to say these misspellings were a result of colonial policy is incorrect. In every generation there are values and systems and these keep on changing time and again. Naming itself is a reflection of things that happen around us. Language itself is a means of communication and it is not fixed as well,” explained Dr Hadebe.

However, culture and heritage commentator Pathisa Nyathi said there was a need to correct misspellings of Bulawayo suburbs and streets, although he said there was no need to rename some streets and suburbs. “What people should understand is that we were once colonised and it remains a fact. Our heritage is based on colonialism and we have to leave some colonial names to remind us of what happened and the colonial pain that we suffered. Heritage is not always sweet and people should always know that,” he said.

He, however, said misspellings were a result of colonial system as they did not consult the locals whom they believed could not “read or write.”

“I believe we were never consulted as there was a belief that we could not read or write. Those misspellings are a product of colonial legacy and have failed to be corrected,” he said.

Bulawayo City Council public relations officer Miss Bongiwe Ngwenya said renaming Bulawayo streets was a good initiative although they were still to avail funds for the project.

“I believe it is a good initiative and it will go a long way in defining who we are. Once funds are available, an interdepartment committee will sit down and come up with a budget. Also considering the fact that our city recently celebrated 120 years of existence, such developments are welcome for the city,” she said.

An academic who preferred anonymity concurred with Miss Ngwenya saying it was a welcome move to correct the