Fed up with the complaints over Graaff-Reinet being renamed Robert Sobukwe Town, throngs of supporters took to the streets on Saturday, saying the new name is here to stay.
Marchers paraded through the streets carrying a large white banner reading “yes to Robert Sobukwe Town” and “our history, our identity, our future”.
The demonstrations follow the recent decision to rename the historic Karoo town after Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, the founding president of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and one of SA’s most prominent anti-apartheid leaders.
Sports, arts, and culture minister Gayton McKenzie signed off on the change.
Sobukwe led the PAC during the 1960 anti-pass campaign and later became one of apartheid’s best-known political prisoners after he was kept in isolation on Robben Island for several years.
He died in 1978 at the age of 53 after a long illness.
Graaff-Reinet, located in the Eastern Cape, is one of SA’s oldest towns.
It was founded in 1786 by Dutch colonial authorities and named after Cornelis Jacob van de Graaff, a Dutch governor at the Cape, and his wife, Hester Cornelia Reynet.
Supporters of the renaming said replacing the colonial-era name with that of Sobukwe honours an African liberation leader and reflects the country’s history more accurately.
PAC president Mzwanele Nyhontso said he was among those who protested.
“The people have spoken, colonial names must fall,” he said.
“The legacy and name of the great Africanist, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, stand firm and unshaken in the hearts of the masses.
“Today the people rise together, reclaiming history and defending the dignity of our heroes.
“The struggle continues, guided by Sobukwe’s enduring call for justice and the return of the land to its rightful owners.”
Andile Gogoda said renaming Graaff-Reinet to Robert Sobukwe Town was a reclamation of identity and a refusal to live in the shadow of a colonial ghost.
“We stand with the residents marching for dignity,” Gogoda said.
However, the name change has divided residents in the town.
About three weeks ago, another group of residents marched through Graaff-Reinet to oppose the renaming.
The residents were dressed in pink “Hands off Graaff-Reinet” T-shirts and said the name change would erase the town’s history and heritage.
Meanwhile, Derek Light, of Derek Light Attorneys, previously said he was going to fight the name change in court.
Samantha Graham-Maré, of the DA, last week submitted almost 22,000 objections to McKenzie.
AfriForum has also threatened McKenzie with a legal letter.
In the letter, AfriForum referred to the study by Prof. Ronnie Donaldson, which established that 83,6% of the town’s residents were opposed to the name change.
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