Council plan to honour 7 heroes by renaming footbridges

/A!KUNTO: /A!KUNTO; Tuan Guru; Ingrid Jonker; Dawid Kruiper; Father John Oliver; Taliep Petersen; Father Basil van Rensburg.

Do you know who they all were? The city is about to acquaint you with them.

The city yesterday recommended naming proposals for the seven footbridges crossing Nelson Mandela Boulevard and Rhodes Drive for public participation.

/A!kunto: /A!kunto (or Klaas Stoffel) was the first contributor to the Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd Archive of /xam and !kun texts. He arrived in Mowbray on August 29, 1870 and stayed until October 1873.

He was from an area called the “Strondberen” and belonged to a group of !xam who lived on the plains. He contributed some narratives and a large number of words and sentences to the archive.

Tuan Guru: Imam Abdullah Ibn Qadhu Abdus Salaam, known as Tuan Guru, is regarded as the father of Islam in South Africa. Tuan Guru was a descendant of the Sultan of Morocco.

He was banished by Dutch invaders to the Cape in 1780 and was incarcerated on Robben Island for 12 years until 1792. He wrote several copies of the Holy Qur’an from memory.

Ingrid Jonker: The iconic South African poet who committed suicide by drowning at the age of 31 at Sea Point. Her poem Die Kind was read out by former president Nelson Mandela during the opening of South Africa’s first democratic parliament in 1994.

Dawid Kruiper: A traditional healer and leader of the Khomani San in the Kalahari. He was well known for his role in the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy II and led the way for successful land claims.

Father John Oliver: An Anglican priest from District Six who died in 2013. He founded the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative and spent many years building bridges between the different faiths.

Taliep Petersen: A wellknown singer, composer and director of musicals. He was murdered in 2007.

Father Basil van Rensburg: A Catholic priest who gained international recognition for his fight against forced removal of the people of District Six. He was born in Woodstock in 1930 and died in 2002.

A public participation process will now take place, providing residents and interested parties with the opportunity to comment.

The Naming Committee recommended that the park in Quinan Road in Somerset West be renamed after the late doctor and trade unionist, Neil Aggett.

He died in police custody in 1981.