The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) has rejected the renaming of Sandton Drive to Leila Khaled Drive, labelling the move as distasteful as she did not contribute to the development of the City of Johannesburg.
This comes after the City of Joburg metro announced the proposal on September 18, calling on interested and affected people or parties to submit their comments or representations within 28 days.
The proposal to rename the street was approved by the council members in 2018.
“The proposed re-naming is in terms of the City's approved Policy on the Naming of Streets and Other Public Places within the City Of Johannesburg,” the City said.
Leila Khaled is a Palestinian resistance icon who made history in 1969 by becoming the first woman to hijack an airplane, at the age of 25.
Khaled is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP ) and currently lives in Amman, Jordan.
The 80-year-old was born in Haifa, Mandatory Palestine.
Reacting to the renaming of the Sandton Drive to Palestinian heroine, Khaled, the ACDP Johannesburg Caucus and councillor Norman Mkhonza rejected the idea, saying that it is distasteful.
“The ACDP notes with distaste the proposal to rename Sandton Drive to a person who did not contribute to the development of the City or indirectly demonstrated any reconciliation and peace efforts to the South African struggle for Human Rights let alone Justice.”
”As much as Khaled could be seen as a freedom fighter in a thin slice of South African society, her fight has been for the Palestinian cause, not for the development of Johannesburg,” he said.
According to Mkhonza section 5 (iii) of the policy on the naming of streets and public places states that the naming of features after exceptional people is recognised as being a way of honouring outstanding individuals for their contribution to the development of the city and the country, and should be done sparingly and with careful consideration.
He said the party started opposing the decision back in 2018, and that they will continue to do so.
Mkhonza said the Joburg metro should focus on addressing the crumbling infrastructure and unacceptable low revenue collection rates, which negatively impact service delivery, instead of the idea of renaming the street.
“Additionally, the City’s debtor’s book is at an estimated R50 Billion which should give us sleepless nights as opposed to the obsession with renaming streets, especially renaming them to individuals who were divisive and contributed nothing to the City’s development.”
He added: “South Africa is known as the "Rainbow Nation" which tolerates all diverse views, and religious and cultural preferences. The ACDP does not see any tolerance, reconciliation and peace in this proposed person’s name to replace Sandton Drive in the World Class African City.”
The Joburg metro urged the public to send their submissions, to approve or reject the proposal to Dominica Masalesa at dominicam@joburg.org.za or Kopano Monahen at kopanomo@joburg.org.za.
The due date for the submission of rejecting or approving the proposed idea is on October 15.
Mkhonza called on those planning to participate in the submission process, including their members and supporters to oppose the proposal.
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