BCM public hearings on proposed name changes start on Thursday

Do you want torenamea street, suburb, hospital or other geographic feature in Buffalo City Metro? Now is your chance. Public hearings on proposedname changeswill begin on Thursday, giving residents an opportunity to support, object to or suggest new names for areas across the metro.

The process will start in Qonce on Thursday, before moving to Mdantsane’s NU12 Community Hall on Friday, the Gompo township community hall on March 25, and concluding at the KuGompo City Hall in Oxford Street on March 26. The hearings, organised by the Eastern Cape Provincial Geographic Names Committee (ECPGNC) and Buffalo City Metro, form part of an ongoing effort to review andstandardise place names in line with SA’s transformation agenda. BCM council speaker Humphrey Maxegwana said the list of proposed names already published was not final.

“The names listed on the public notice are in no way final,” he said. Among the proposals is the renaming of Mdantsane’s central business district taxi rank to Nkosana Mgxaji Highway, in honour of late boxer Nkosana “Happy Boy” Mgxaji. These include NU1, which could honour businessman Zola Madyaka, NU2 after Eric Gabelana, and NU7 after former uMkhonto we Sizwe combatant Mzimasi Giwu.

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A road between the NU1 police station and Sassa offices in Khayalethemba could be renamed Dumile Gidana Street, after a local boxing pioneer. Several proposals also affect Qonce and KuGompo City.

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