A sacred restoration

Ilitye lika Gompo (Cove Rock) has historical significance in isiXhosa folklore and culture. This is the original name the East London area was called before being violently annexed by white settlers.

Some of the earliest documented mentions of Ilitye lika Gompo go back to 1687, when a ship (the Stavenisse) with settlers was wrecked in the area.

Ilitye lika Gompo has played an important role in Xhosa tradition, being regarded as a place of spiritual importance.

Paternal ancestral spirits are said to reside in the water, and it is believed that ill people can be healed by visiting the cove.

It was at iLitye lika Gompo that the famous Xhosa prophet Makhanda (also known as Nxele) was going to call the ancestors from the sea to help the Xhosa nation drive away the white colonialists.

Therefore kuGompo serves as a symbol of resistance against the whitewash of ancient African civilisations to the development of the world.

It must further be stressed that eMonti has no meaning or significance in African culture as it is a crude translation of an Afrikaans word mond/mouth as the settlers would refer to a rivier mond.

Fanakalo is not an official language and it would not make sense to have a city named in fanakalo when the original name kuGompo still lingers in our memories as Africans.

In African culture naming is sacred and one would not just give their child a name because it sounds cool.

A name and an identity are intertwined, and colonialism diminished our image through symbols of domination such as naming cities after European towns and warlords like Harry Smith and John Cradock.

Therefore kuGompo is a restoration, not a name change as suggested.

— Chumani Matiwane, via e-mail