Political showdown looms over Joburg’s William Nicol Drive renaming

Joburg council speaker Colleen Makhubele says she is not fazed by any political party or organisation which intends to take the city to court for renaming William Nicol Drive to Winnie Mandela Drive.

Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda officially renamed the street on Tuesday.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has raised concerns, saying the name change was a waste of money – which could have been used for service delivery as the ANC stalwart already had a lot of things named after her.

The DA also said they would be seeking legal opinion to reverse the name.

Makhubela said the name change was an important part of the heritage for South Africans and for young people who grew up looking up to the late leader.

“There is no amount of money that you can put a price on and say this is what it is worth.

“Mama Winnie sacrificed her entire life and her family for the people of South Africa.

“Her contributions are invaluable and I don’t think we can use rands and cents to equate what she has done,” she said.

Makhubele said she was not fazed by anyone threatening to take the city to court for the name change and they would welcome anyone to challenge it.

“They live in the courts, we don’t care about that.

“We are coming for Louis Botha [Avenue], we are coming for Hendrik Verwoerd [Drive]. So they will live in the courts because our history demands that our history be passed to our children and our children’s children.

“If us recognising the contribution of our starlets irritates them and makes them feel, somehow, it means they have not yet reconciled to the fact that this country does not belong to them and them alone.”

Joburg MMC for transport Kenny Kunene said it was long overdue to bury the name of William Nicol.

He said leaders should not play with power when they were voted in by the government.

“We cannot be apologetic about renaming our streets. “We must remove all the names of our oppressors from our streets. Louis Botha must go and Hendrik Potgieter must go. We are the only country that allows ourselves to be traumatised everywhere we drive,” Kunene said.

“I get angry whenever I have to tell people I’m on Louis Botha. We have political power, let us exercise it and let us not be apologetic.”

DA Joburg caucus leader Belinda Echeozonjoku said they objected to the name change because residents in the area had raised objections to the renaming.

She said the party believed the past could not be erased by renaming it.

“South Africa is a diverse country and if we say we are a rainbow nation, we must learn from the past and not try to erase the past, especially other people’s cultures by just renaming,” she said.

“Mama Winnie has been honored by the Winnie Mandela Museum; there are settlements that are renamed after her and there are streets that are renamed after her.

“We are of the view that the city should rather have spent the money on service delivery and infrastructure on the very same road they have renamed.”

Echeozonjoku said the DA was still seeking legal opinion on the name change.

“We will seek legal opinion to see if there is an opinion for us to see if there is an opportunity for us [to reinstate the William Nicol name].”