Goodbye East London – big name changes are coming for South Africa by Ronelle Snyders

MEC for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture in the Eastern Cape, Sibulele Ngongo, says her department is continuing with further name changes in the province, with major towns being targeted.

When she delivered her first policy speech on Thursday, August 8, the MEC said the department planned to give new names to East London, Aberdeen and Colchester, among others.

This will contribute to the significant number of other name changes in the province over the last few years, which have included the change from Port Elizabeth to Gqeberha.

Some of the most notable changes in the province in recent years include:

Port Elizabeth to Gqeberha;
Morgans Bay to Gxarha;
Cradock to Nxuba;
Uitenhage to Kariega;
King Williamstown to Qonce;
Queenstown to Komani; and
Grahamstown to Makhanda.
In particular, the province tried to change the name of East London.

In a parliamentary Q&A earlier this year, the Minister for Sport, Arts and Culture noted that a proposal to change the name of East London was the only application of hundreds processed to be rejected.

The minister explained that the application, submitted in 2020, was to change East London to KuGompo. While he did not explain why it was rejected, it was apparently because there was already a settlement with that name in the subway.

South Africans should expect a host of name changes in the coming years.

There are currently 66 name change applications for various geographic features in South Africa, which are being processed by the South African Geographic Names Board (SAGNC).

These name changes will apply to various geographic features across the country as outlined within the SAGNC mandate, including towns, villages, settlements, townships, mountains, rivers, airports, roads, and post offices.

Since its inception, the council has published and named or renamed 1 505 geographical features in South Africa in the newspaper.

The total number of applications received by KZN and published in the newspaper since the beginning of the geographical names process in the Republic of South Africa stands at 362, while the Eastern Cape Geographical Names Committee (ECPGNC) recorded 312.

Apart from naming new geographical features in KwaZulu-Natal in 2023, most of the changed names for towns and cities for that year were in the Eastern Cape.

In 2024, two prominent name changes that were pushed through, including the renaming of Willliam Nicol Drive in Joburg to Winnie Mandela Drive, and the renaming of Ladysmith in KwaZulu Natal to Alfred Duma.