READER LETTER | Renaming towns won’t improve service delivery

Changing the names of towns will not bring a single job, fix a broken sewer pipe, or restore water to communities that have gone without it for weeks. It will not rebuild collapsing roads, revive failing local economies, or end the culture of corruption that has hollowed out our municipalities. SA’s crisis is not symbolic.

It is structural. Yet this is precisely the distraction being pushed by sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie, whose enthusiasm for renaming towns conveniently avoids confronting the real causes of decay in local government. Changing a town’s name does nothing to address municipalities that cannot produce credible financial statements, that fail to spend infrastructure grants or that cannot keep the lights on and taps running.

McKenzie’s push fits neatly into the ANC’s long-standing playbook: when governance fails, escalate identity politics. When accountability looms, redirect public anger toward symbolic battles. The renaming of towns becomes a substitute for economic justice, a performance of transformation without substance. – Thulani Dasa