The public will have their say in the renaming of William Nicol Drive

What started almost two years ago has now come to light again.

In October 2018, the Department of Transport identified several roads to be renamed. The popular William Nicol Drive is one of them and is proposed to be renamed to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Drive after a public participation process.

This year, City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Geoffrey Makhubo announced on the late stalwart’s birthday on 26 September that the process would start again sometime this year.
Acting spokesperson for Makhubo, Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya, said that the announcement was aimed at kick-starting discussions on the City council’s decision made at the time two years ago.
He added that the motion was tabled by the ANC and garnered much support from the City council.

“The implication of this fact is that the decision is not political partisan but a view of the City council recognising Mama Winnie’s contribution to our freedom and democracy. I must also note that the decision was made while under the leadership of the DA, when Herman Mashaba was the mayor at the time,” said Moya.

He added that it would be wrong to suggest that the name change was supported by political partisanship.
Outcry over renaming:

With many residents and business owners up in arms over the proposed name change, Ward 90 councillor Martin Williams had his say on the matter. He said as an affected ward councilor he would also like to engage in the matter.

“The City’s renaming policy states: ‘All affected ward councillors must always be engaged through the ward committee structures, via the office of the Speaker Ward Governance, in consultation with the Regional Director’s office’,” added Williams.

He has also requested prompt access to any and all notices and or advertisements concerning the renaming of William Nicol Drive, copies of which he has not yet received.
Process that needs to be followed:

Shedding light on the process, Moya stated that it could take one of two forms or sometimes even both. “The first is in a form of a series of public meetings where the City formally calls a meeting, announces a date and the venue, spells out the agenda and invites stakeholders to present their case, for or against. Stakeholders include virtually anyone who has an interest in the naming of the road. It includes residents, businesses, families of both Nicol and Madikizela-Mandela, if they so wish. Virtually anyone,” said Moya.

He mentioned that the second process was in the form of making written submissions and anyone with an interest in the outcome was free to participate.

In light of Covid-19, Moya said details of public meetings were to be confirmed but would be at any given time. “Council will have to take a decision in due course and also outline the timelines. The final decision will be made only once the public participation process is done and all the inputs have been collated.”