Mbeki to rethink name changes

[Darth Garth]

So how on Gods green earth do the ANC get to rename it?

Potchefstroom City Council Election Results 2006

ANC 28
DP 10
FF+ 2
ID 2

Very simple as you can see.

If it is the desire of the majority that lives there NOW to change the name of the place where they live to something that represents them then who are you and me to dictate to them ???.

Potchefstroom might have been established by Afrikaners hundreds of years ago but we are dealing with TODAY and not what happened in the past.

Perhaps if Afrikaners had treated others far better in this country then there might have been far more respect for their symbols and history from others in this country without them needing to kick up a fuss about it.

Now whose fault is that ???.

No use crying over spilt milk now.

 

[mancombseepgood]

Don't confuse the desire of the majority with the desire of the elite. If the majority got their way, they would have a house first.

 

[simple_simon]

yes they'll reconsider the name changes.....instead the they will become potchumbula and lydenmadapapa

or any other unpronouncable name of choice. as you can see the 3 names above do still have part of their heritage and are obviously less offensive

 

[Darth Garth]

Don't confuse the desire of the majority with the desire of the elite.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060720000153376C413161

As articulated via their elected representatives which is how democracy works.

As you can see the name change procedure was initiated by the Potch city council themselves and not by Mbeki or anybody else or any other govt minister or ANC official as according to the relevant name change legislation.

So clearly the majority of people in Potch whom they have duly elected wants this to happen (one can argue the merits of this) but you and others clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

Perhaps you should realize you speak for a minority and not the majority.

 

[Nod]

Potchefstroom might have been established by Afrikaners hundreds of years ago but we are dealing with TODAY and not what happened in the past.

Perhaps if Afrikaners had treated others far better in this country then there might have been far more respect for their symbols and history from others in this country without them needing to kick up a fuss about it.

Now whose fault is that ???.

No use crying over spilt milk now.

We are dealing with today, but that does not mean you can change everything you don't like from the past.

The past is where is is because it happened. You can choose to learn from it, and move on, or you can use it to play "tit-for-tat", "eye for an eye" or what ever other game you would like to play.

Changing the past should never be an option, as it serves no purpose. Who is winning by changing it? The guy in his shack? What is reconciled by changing a name?

Is black and white suddenly going to live in harmony because a town/city's name changed? I don't think so. This action has a better change of souring the relations between the races.

Time, money and energy can be spend on more pressing issues than names. Surely?

 

[Nod]

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060720000153376C413161

As articulated via their elected representatives which is how democracy works.

As you can see the name change procedure was initiated by the Potch city council themselves and not by Mbeki or anybody else or any other govt minister or ANC official as according to the relevant name change legislation.

If they did not ask for a vote on changing the name, then IMO, they are not serving the community (residents of the town/city). If I'm right the ANC is a majority in the counsel? Whose purpose are they really serving?

 

[kingrob]

The name-changing debacle is extremely silly, because if a lot of DA, VV+ and others move to Potchs, then they can just change the name back again at the next election - but really, what purpose does that serve, other than to waste MORE money & being childish?

I think it is a way for the ANC to show the comrades that they're doing some work - and hey, it's much less challenging than to try & do something about education, safety & security, correctional services, etc.

 

[Vrotappel]

Potchefstroom City Council Election Results 2006

ANC 28
DP 10
FF+ 2
ID 2

Very simple as you can see.

If it is the desire of the majority that lives there NOW to change the name of the place where they live to something that represents them then who are you and me to dictate to them ???.

Potchefstroom might have been established by Afrikaners hundreds of years ago but we are dealing with TODAY and not what happened in the past.

Perhaps if Afrikaners had treated others far better in this country then there might have been far more respect for their symbols and history from others in this country without them needing to kick up a fuss about it.

Now whose fault is that ???.

No use crying over spilt milk now.

Crap!

 

[Tamagotchi]

I do agree that the changing of names serves no purpose.
But to assume that naming an airport after some-one sounds banana- republic-ish is out of order.("Banana Republicy sounding name like O.R Tambo").Do you reckon the french say that Charles de Gaulle is Hill-billy sounding or what?...Why do we as south africans always form the opinion that everything is better in other countries.
To have vuvuzelas at a football game is truelly south african. In Italy and elsewhere they ignite flares in their stadiums and beat on drums, does that mean we have to do the same.?
We have our own culture and it should be displayed. Does G.W Bush international sound like a better option for JHB international?

 

[Darth Garth]

This action has a better change of souring the relations between the races.

Is there even relations between the races to speak off in the first place Nod ???.
I don't think such a thing exists in Potch or in most places in South Africa.

 

[supersunbird]

Is there even relations between the races to speak off in the first place Nod ???.
I don't think such a thing exists in Potch or in most places in South Africa.

Which is better, no relations or sour relations?

I'll go with no relations, since they always say "no new is good news" and "moenie slappende honde wakker maak nie" and all kinds of things like that...

 

[Nod]

Is there even relations between the races to speak off in the first place Nod ???.
I don't think such a thing exists in Potch or in most places in South Africa.

There could have been better relations by now, if that was the aim of the government. Instead of righting the wrongs of the past, they are repeating the wrongs of the past with a added bonus of attempting to rewrite parts of it.

 

[mancombseepgood]

Yes but

but you and others clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

Perhaps you should realize you speak for a minority and not the majority.

Maybe you think you are part of the majority, but believe me there is a bigger world out there of forgotten people who can't even rub 2c together, let alone worry about spending their time lobbying for name changes. Although I am lucky enough to not be part of that constituent, I don't think it's fair to write them off. No offence, but when last have you visited a squatter settlement Tibbs? When last have you spent a few hours at an HIV AIDS orphanage? When last have you worked at Groote Schuur's casualty ward? You make your money in front of a computer screen in a comfy office don't forget.

 

[Darth Garth]

No offence, but when last have you visited a squatter settlement Tibbs?

Recently.
http://www.mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=52087

 

[Skeptik]

Potchefstroom City Council Election Results 2006

ANC 28
DP 10
FF+ 2
ID 2

Very simple as you can see.

If it is the desire of the majority that lives there NOW to change the name of the place where they live to something that represents them then who are you and me to dictate to them ???.

Potchefstroom might have been established by Afrikaners hundreds of years ago but we are dealing with TODAY and not what happened in the past.

Perhaps if Afrikaners had treated others far better in this country then there might have been far more respect for their symbols and history from others in this country without them needing to kick up a fuss about it.

Now whose fault is that ???.

No use crying over spilt milk now.

DP?? You mean DA? Do try to keep up Tibby!

And if the ANC didn't win they would change the voting system - right?

So if there is a squatter camp in Simonstown, should the DA rename it to an English or Afrikaans one?? After all they run Simonstown and the surrounding towns.

Besides, if the Afrikaners founded a town/city and farmed there and invested in it, what right has the "new" population to change it anyway. Why don't they go somewhere else and build their own. You don't find the Pakistanis in Leicester (UK) renaming their majority Pakistani city 'Pakiville' do you

 

[Bona Botse]

yes they'll reconsider the name changes.....instead the they will become potchumbula and lydenmadapapa

or any other unpronouncable name of choice. as you can see the 3 names above do still have part of their heritage and are obviously less offensive

This goodwill was later abused and now we have a Banana Republicy sounding name like OR Tambo.

wtf? u guys sound just a tad rascist hey. just coz it doesnt sound like YOUR languge, FRESHY-ZN, doesnt make it wrong. and just coz YOU, SIMPLE_SIMON, cant pronounce it, doesnt mean everybody else cant. fact is 70% of the country can. damn

 

[Angelo]

Besides, if the Afrikaners founded a town/city and farmed there and invested in it, what right has the "new" population to change it anyway.

The proposed new name of the city, situated 117km north of Johannesburg on the Mooi River, is derived from the Batlokwa people who settled in the area before the arrival of the Voortrekker leader Hendricks Potgieter


Pule Moloantoa, an old resident of Potchefstroom, who claims he was forcibly removed from Makweteng, the old location of Potchefstroom, said having the name Tlokwe back gave him sense of belonging. “It really makes me feel happy. I have forgiven those who took my property, but have not forgotten the pain I endured,” said Moloantoa.

.

 

[Jongi]

I would sugest the majority of the country sees nothing wrong with the name changes as a principle.

 

[Skeptik]

The proposed new name of the city, situated 117km north of Johannesburg on the Mooi River, is derived from the Batlokwa people who settled in the area before the arrival of the Voortrekker leader Hendricks Potgieter


Pule Moloantoa, an old resident of Potchefstroom, who claims he was forcibly removed from Makweteng, the old location of Potchefstroom, said having the name Tlokwe back gave him sense of belonging. “It really makes me feel happy. I have forgiven those who took my property, but have not forgotten the pain I endured,” said Moloantoa.

As Mulder said - there are towns that were not actually settled and are now in line to be changed. The definition of 'settled' means different things to different people. One guy walking past a big tree every 6 months on his way to a pasture 300 Km away is not 'settled'. Yet such hand-me-down stories are often taken as "evidence" in a claim. The truth is such people had different concepts of ownership. In the past if you could not look after something properly, a neighbour might claim it. It may have been the subject of a dispute, but he wasn't considered a thief as he would today.

Look at Port Elizebeth. We know the Xhosa did not like the sea and were not found in numbers anywhere near the coast. Now they claim the city and the right to rename it. They even renamed the bay after a Xhosa - Nelson Mandela - which is to my mind, pretty cheeky.

Also the Western Cape was devoid of any Xhosa. That doesn't stop attempts to give things in Cape Town Xhosa names.

My point is - let's have consistency. Make a guide/rule and stick to it. This business of some ANC mayor proposing a name change off the top of his head for the sake of publicity is crazy.

 

[Jongi]

But is it crazy? Have you ever heard the majority of Black South Africans complain?