ANC hits out at plans to name boulevard after FW
FW DE KLERK was “not a messiah”, the ANC said yesterday in response to the City of Cape Town’s proposal to rename Table Bay Boulevard after the former president.
“He was part of apartheid. He cannot be a messiah. He did not liberate us,” the party’s national spokesman, Zizi Kodwa, said.
If the decision was in its hands, the ANC would not rename Table Bay Boulevard after De Klerk.
“The ANC wouldn’t name an institution after FW de Klerk. Renaming is part of our heritage and he played no part in our revolution,” he said.
The City of Cape Town said on Thursday the boulevard may be renamed if the council accepted a proposal by the city’s naming committee.
However, Kodwa said De Klerk was a president of apartheid.
“President De Klerk is the only living president of apartheid. You can’t differentiate be- tween all the other presidents of apartheid, because all that he did among other things was to maintain apartheid,” said Kodwa.
The 79-year-old was president from September 1989 to May 1994.
He was the last apartheid-era head of state of South Africa.
In 1993, he won the Nobel Peace Prize along with struggle icon Nelson Mandela for their enormous contribution to bringing an end to apartheid.
Kodwa said De Klerk only acted because South Africa was becoming isolated internationally and because he was facing pressure from the growing resistance movement.
“He did not voluntarily release Nelson Mandela. It was out of the pressure of the masses of people.”
However, Kodwa said he would not speculate on why the City of Cape Town wanted to use De Klerk’s name.
“The City is the best person in terms of renaming that street. Maybe they appreciate that history.
“They have the right to rename it after any person… in accordance to the definition of their vision,” he said.
He said reconciliation and nation-building needed to be considered when renaming streets. – Sapa