The renaming of the Piet Koornhof Building is a topic of great controversy, perhaps even more controversial than the person it was named after.
Dr Piet Koornhof was seen perhaps as a paragon of contradictions during the apartheid-era; as he was an outspoken opponent of apartheid, but yet also managed to serve as minister in the National Government for 18 years.
Koornhof was born in 1925 in Leeudoringstad, Western Transvaal (North West Province).
He studied theology at the University of Stellenbosch, and completed his studies at Oxford after being awarded a Rhodes scholarship. He wrote a doctoral thesis that fully accepted the inevitability of black urbanisation.
In 1956 he joined the National Party, starting out as a researcher for Hendrik Verwoerd, the Prime Minister at the time, and was appointed director of the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge, an institute for the advancement of Afrikaners and their culture. In 1962, he became secretary of the Afrikaner Broederbond and in 1964 was elected Member of Parliament for Primrose.
In 1968, he became Deputy Minister of Bantu Affairs and Bantu Education. He was appointed Minister of Energy in 1972 and in 1973 combined this post with that of Minister of Sports. In this position, he announced the creation of separate sports teams for different races. As Minister of Energy from 1972 to 1976, and especially as Minister of Cooperation and Development between 1978 and 1984, Koornhof was involved in the implementation of apartheid laws by the forced removal of black people from residential areas declared as ‘white’.
Nevertheless, he launched studies into potential constitutional models for South Africa; such as the Swiss Canton model – in which a heterogeneous population could be governed under a system free of the oppression of any one dominant group. He allegedly informed P.W. Botha, the Prime Minister before F.W. De Klerk, that peace in South Africa would be possible only through releasing Nelson Mandela.
After that he was relegated to, what was considered a more insignificant post, Ambassador to the United States.
At the end of the apartheid-era, Koornhof was one of the few former ministers to acknowledge the atrocities committed under their rule during apartheid. He joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 2001, followed by his eldest son, Dr Gerhard Koornhof (who joined the ANC in 2003).
In 2007, at the age of 82, Koornhof passed away in Stellenbosch and the ANC issued a statement that read: “What distinguished him from other leaders of the apartheid regime was his honesty in publicly acknowledging the mistakes he committed as a Cabinet minister.”
Even though he had his faults, Koornhof was still honoured as ‘one of the first public proponents of change in South Africa’.
Mr Lebohang Mofokeng, spokesperson for the Emalahleni Local Municipality, recently announced that the Local Geographic Name Council (LGNC) is in the process of renaming the building in eMalahleni sharing Koornhof’s name.
Local Geographic Name Committee invites members of the public to make comments or objections to the LGNC Secretariat at the civic centre on the third floor, Office 8, Development Planning. (The closing date for comments or objections is 14 days after notice.)
A short list for the proposed ‘new name’ include: Girly Mnisi (a previous Councillor), Mbongeni Jan Ngomane (Political Activist) , Solly Moroape (Political Activist), Solly Zwane (Political Activist) and Lassy Maduma (Political Activist).
Already a member of the community, who wished to remain anonymous, commented on the proposal for a name change and asked the question: “How much is it going to cost to just change a name?”
A vital point was made that the building itself will remain unchanged and no proposal for improvements on or around this building was announced.
“What good does it then do? We see this all the time… they change a name, but it remains the same crummy old structure…”
“Perhaps the name of an apartheids-era politician is not ideal. After-all the man was nicknamed ‘Piet-promises’; but that name seems to have been inherited by current politicians in government who promise us better living conditions, but then only spend money on renaming buildings to represent a new – yet still old South Africa.”
*What do you think about the renaming of the Piet Koornhof Building?
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