What is in a name change?

What’s in a name you may ask, for a street name, a lot in money. William Nicol Drive undergoing its name change has caused quite the stir. South Africans are divided. Some are appalled, others are applauding and the rest are not even in the slightest bit moved.

Arguably, this particular name change is because of a history that may or not be distorted. But it would be lie if we were to say Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is not dear to some people.

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I understand the cost implications in name changes, especially in a country that is on bended knee. Citizens are borrowing to make ends meet. Those that are employed borrow to get to their employers. Houses and cars are being repossessed.

Crime is soaring. Social grants are a questionable expense to some and not enough of a relief measure for others.

In light of this, it remains a notable question on the urgency of name changes, but we cannot discount the importance of these name changes. We forget that every wrinkle on that beautiful face carries years of thankless sacrifice.

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We forget that she sacrificed her parental obligations to raise the foster child that was the South African nation… we allowed patriarchy to demonise women whose only fault was loving us as a nation, even when we rejected her.

Women are being buried, long before their time in this country, be it physically, financially and even emotionally. We are dying because society has decided we are replaceable. We are meant to be rocks that withstand all sorts of pain and hardship.

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And now the women of our generation refuse the label of rocks. We are eggs, treated as such, we cannot continue under this hardship.

While there may be confusion on who she really is, we must be agreeing that her latter days by far were her greatest moments in our history. But if as a society we are able to introspect, we divorced the rights of the woman long before we honestly reflected on her place within our society.

Is it ironic that almost yearly, towards the celebration of Women’s Day, South African women, somewhere, every year, go through a heinous crime of sorts?

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