JIA name officially changed - apparently

[nGAGEd55]

I'm not going to draw everyone a diagram or keep repeating my point of view over and over but renaming our top international airport to reinforce our the South African brand and our position in the African Union, doesn't sound like the worst idea in the world.

How the hell does changing the name 'reinforce' our position in the Afican Union'???

And if we want to 'reinforce the South African brand' why dont we just call it 'South African International Airport'?

When I think of Oliver Tambo I dont think of South Africa, but of someone that did a lot in the strugle against apartheid.

And i'm sure more than half of the people that goes throught that airport won't even know who he was.

 

[Gunny]

You can name any city whatever you want it doesnt change the crime rate, it doesnt make living here more comfortable (except for the politicians who get a warm fuzzy feeling sitting in there ridiculously expensive lounge suites and heated rooms) The employment figures suck half the ppl dnt have access to running water and electricity or affordable housing and communication structures, we have an AIDS pandemic and education is well almost non existant.

Ask yourself who does this name change benifit ?
Is it the guy who scraped up enough taxi fair to go look for some sort of employment and cant read the sign ?
Or is it the family who have AIDS that will die in 1 year because they dnt have the means to get treatment and are out in the freezing cold every night ?
Or is it the guy that steals your car from the airport parking lot so he can put food on his family's table ?

 

[kilps]

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=276844&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/

Anyone know were more information about the gazett can be found? Were can comments be sent?

The airport, located in Kempton Park, was previously known as Jan Smuts International airport, after the World War II prime minister, but was renamed in the mid-1990s when it was said airports should be named after their localities and not after politicians.

Really? Now what is this - it seems that Smuts was probably one the most deserving people for the title... so why after taking it away from him for the above reason give it to someone else? Is it because it doesn't look good having an African Airport named after a white person?

The name of Africa is a Latin construct and as such the name African Union is colonialist and thus must be innihalated...

I'm sure that they will get onto that soon enough ...

 

[BTTB]

should be named after their localities and not after politicians

Thanks for that snippet.
However politician are renown for having short term memory loss! CRAFT

Like the renaming of Pretoria to Tshwane, removing "Natal" from KwaZulu-Natal and this Airport Renaming saga really tells me that there are two sectors in Government, like the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

The Airport renaming saga is a stab in the back as the Government has gone back on what they have said and adding fuel to the fire they have inadvertently snubbed one of the greatest leaders this world has ever known.
See my post here.
History will be incomplete without Jan Smuts and what he did in his lifetime.
He was a true visionary and he foresaw in 1919 that the Treaty of Versailles was not going to work, as it would cripple a Post-War Germany, which it did and the result of which was probably WWII, but there I will leave it to the true historians to comment, but for all intense and purposes the Versailles Treaty was the main cause of the uprising of the German people and the subsequent part of history that we tend to forget.
Smuts knew this and withdrew.

 

[bb_matt]

Today, I is flyink to Jan Smuts airport, it are very nice to fly there. I are wearing my Jean Pant.

How! - Eiissh, we am flying to Oliver Tambo, too niiiceee. I Toi Toi nice nice. I wear my smart pant.

 

[krycor]

silly.. I guess people of joburg better be prepared for a name change too huh? Personally, for me a person in the centre, i don't give a crap what its called but i prefer JIA, CPTI etc cause you know where you going. jsmuts, dfmalan etc were fine too, but the newer city names mad alot of sense. To see politicians contradict themselves is priceless though. Someone should find a video of the politician and mail it to them.

 

[DigitalSoldier]

silly.. I guess people of joburg better be prepared for a name change too huh? Personally, for me a person in the centre, i don't give a crap what its called but i prefer JIA, CPTI etc cause you know where you going. jsmuts, dfmalan etc were fine too, but the newer city names mad alot of sense. To see politicians contradict themselves is priceless though. Someone should find a video of the politician and mail it to them.

Remember the youth league is also fighting for the name change of the country

 

[nGAGEd55]

Remember the youth league is also fighting for the name change of the country

I think it was the azania youth league, but the goverment doesnt really seem interested.

 

[GavinMannion]

I also see no point to changing the names of airports to reflect popular people.

It is an issue all over the world and it makes no point.

Rather have the JHB International Airport and then inside that you could have the Oliver Thambo Terminal and the Jan Smuts Domestic Arrivals or something along those lines.

When travelling around Europe you are constantly checking where certain airports are. Charles De Gaulle and the like... It's just a pain in the @ss and helps nothing.

 

[icyrus]

What it are we doing to be ready for 2010? Renaming airports at great expense ofcourse! Who needs upgraded infrastructure or under-control crime when we can just spend the money on renaming things and pretend like everything is ok.

 

[Napalm]

They changed the name from Jan Smuts to Joburg International a while back cause Jan Smuts was from the "apartheid" era.... But now they want to Change it to Oliver Thambo? Why do they want to give every place in Africa such names. They don't want the Airports name on "Apartheid"'s side , when we changed it to a internationally known name it was good for a while.. as this was the middleground... now they want to change it again to a "New SA" name...

Joburg ppl... Challange the name change plz..

 

[Waron]

Branding South Africa - You top international airport is part of jor external brand - the same way you associate Heathrow, JFK etc. It's on the ticket of every international visitor flying into SA.

“According to BusinessWeek (9 August 2004), South Africa’s ‘external brand equity’ is worth R379.5-billion ($63.6-billion at R6 to the $) – that’s more than IBM ($53.8-billion) and Microsoft ($61.4-billion).”

 

[kilo39]

Branding South Africa - You top international airport is part of jor external brand - the same way you associate Heathrow, JFK etc. It's on the ticket of every international visitor flying into SA.

“According to BusinessWeek (9 August 2004), South Africa’s ‘external brand equity’ is worth R379.5-billion ($63.6-billion at R6 to the $) – that’s more than IBM ($53.8-billion) and Microsoft ($61.4-billion).”

Now - I wonder - will brand equity go up or down - on a name change to Azania - or OT international?

 

[bwana]

Branding South Africa - You top international airport is part of jor external brand - the same way you associate Heathrow, JFK etc. It's on the ticket of every international visitor flying into SA.

You're forgetting the other international airports in SA. Look at the first impression foreigners get from using that airport.

Hint - its not the name of the airport and its not table mountain.

 

[Angelo]

This is a giant step towards African Renaissance.

 

[icyrus]

This is a giant step towards African Renaissance.

How so?

 

[Angelo]

How so?

Well the name itself is self-explanatory but anyway , African Renaissance is about the restoration of Africa and this involves taking pride in African heritage which involves honoring leaders who contributed to the struggles against colonialism and apartheid. Honoring African symbols.

 

[kilo39]

Well the name itself is self-explanatory but anyway , African Renaissance is about the restoration of Africa and this involves taking pride in African heritage which involves honoring leaders who contributed to the struggles against colonialism and apartheid. Honoring African symbols.

Says he - amongst the fields of the dead.

 

[Creed]

Well said kilo39

Why should black leaders be honoured above white ones who also fought for their country and what they believed in? Men like Jan Smuts fought colonialism and many gave their lives doing so, why should they not be remembered?

 

[DigitalSoldier]

Creed, because we have an african "democracy" (spit) and its what the majority wants.