Earlier this year the names of five towns in the Eastern Cape were changed. However, residents in these towns are unhappy as very little has been done to change the signage with the old colonial names. The new names of Komani, Cacadu, Khowa, KwaBhaca and eMaxesibeni were announced in March.
Lady Frere is now Cacadu, Elliot is Khowa, Mt Frere is KwaBhaca and Mount Ayliff is now known as eMaxesibeni. Young people say social media must be used to publicise the name changes.
“Social media will be a great platform for young people and meetings in rural areas will be best for those who do not have access to the internet,” said Komani resident Sima Phaliso.
“We are very happy about the name changes from Queenstown to Komani because Queenstown is linked to Britain, so we are very happy about the name change,” added another resident, Fezekile.
The Department of Public Works says budget constraints have delayed the process. “The Department of roads and public works has budgeted about R15 million, but the new names that have recently been gazetted were not included in that budget. The Department will in the 2018/2019 financial year all include all the newly changed names,” said public works spokesperson Mpumzi Zuzile.
The name change process started in March. The process also corrected the spelling of town names like Bizana, Ngcobo and Dutywa.
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