William Nicol’s name on road signs not worth a dime

There will be those who will be irked by the traffic headaches today over the official renaming of William Nicol Drive to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Drive.

And, no doubt others irritated or angered by the renaming.

But the world didn’t fall apart when various roads in Gauteng were renamed and, indeed, can anyone remember when the province was called something else?

There may be those who recall Madikizela-Mandela’s controversial past and wonder if she should be honoured at all.

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But then you could say the same about William Nicol.

As authors Nick Dall and Matthew Blackman discovered while researching Rogues’ Gallery: An Irreverent History of Corruption in South Africa, Nicol was not only a founding member of the Broederbond, he was also a preacher in the NG Kerk who was offended that there were black soldiers present when he went to preach to SA troops in North Africa in World War II.

For his loyalty to the National Party, he was made Administrator of the Transvaal from 1948 to 1958.

In other words, just the sort of person whose place in history was mediocre to say the least and whose name on road signs won’t be missed.