Cradock residents in last-ditch bid to stop name change

Cradock residents have until Monday to object to the recent renaming of the town to Nxuba.

They would have to convince minister of sport, arts and culture Nathi Mthethwa that the decision to change the town’s name was procedurally wrong and that the name Cradock should be restored.

This comes after Mthethwa in August published a government gazette confirming his decision to rename the town Nxuba.

Zukile Jodwana, chair of the Eastern Cape Provincial Geographical Names Council (ECPGNC), said that in the application calling for the name change, the person who submitted the recommendation to the council said it was to restore the town’s original name, which was Nxuba.

The recent gazette has infuriated some residents in the town, who believe it is a waste of money.

A march is planned for Heritage Day, on Saturday, which will include the DA, Cradock Business Chamber and a few other stakeholders.

Monde Desha, DA constituency chair and caucus leader, said changing the name would negatively affect the internationally renowned heritage of the Cradock Four.

“What will happen with the Cradock Four, which is our heritage and history?

“The provincial namechange committee must build on our heritage of the internationally renowned Cradock Four anti-apartheid activists, Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli and Sparrow Mkhonto.

“The Cradock Four and the name Cradock reminds us to fight for what we believe in.

“Cradock is synonymous with the Cradock Four.”

Cradock was named after John Cradock, governor of the Cape Colony.

Desha said a new name would not bring any economic benefits to the town.

“Unemployment in the Inxuba Yethemba Municipality is currently at 41% and a new name won’t change many of the unemployed people’s statuses to employed.”

Participants in the march will hand over a petition with more than 3,000 signatures of residents who are not in favour of the name change.

Desha said it was clear the majority of the residents in Cradock and Middelburg were against the name change.

The Cradock Business Forum, meanwhile, announced recently that it was working hard to put a stop to the name change.

“A symbolic march is being arranged against the name of Cradock to be changed to Nxuba.

“We will have to be as many people as possible to show the media that will show the world we are against this name change,” the forum said.

The forum had called on local businesses, schools, churches, organisations, forums and associations to write letters to Mthethwa and send a copy to the forum that will be attached to a cover letter and petition forms.

These will be hand-delivered to Mthethwa’s office before the 30-day period ends.

Jodwana has come out in defence of the process, stressing that sufficient consultation with all affected parties was done.

He said that in terms of the process, the council was required to first inform stakeholders about the application to rename and the process to be followed.

Stakeholders were then urged to inform their constituencies about the process and a public meeting was convened which was advertised in newspapers and other media.

He said the geographical names council informed the local municipality on March 21, followed by a stakeholder consultation on March 23.

Public consultations were convened for May 19 and the message was also communicated through radio and TV interviews.

“Therefore in this regard, I can confirm that sufficient consultation was done,” Jodwana said.

He said that since the establishment of the committee in 2003, fewer than 300 names had been standardised in the province, of which fewer than 100 had been renamed.

“So if we look at the progress, one can say a lot of work is needed to achieve the objective of transformation of our geographical names landscape.

“You must understand that the renaming process is a very emotive subject and therefore will always attract objection from those who identify with the name subjected to renaming.

“Our message has been that people should view the process within the spirit of reconciliation,” Jodwana said.