Short guide to the new South African town names

Copyright Ursela du Preez 2015

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Index

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………….…Page 2

List of Provinces………………………………………………………………………..………….Page 3-4

 Includes individual maps indicating the location of each Province

List of Old to New City/Town Names………………………………..……………...…….Page 5-6

 Old to New – A-Z (Pg. 5)  New to Old – A-Z (Pg. 6)

List of Other Towns/Airports Old to New names……………………….……….……….Page 7

List of Street Names Old to New names………………………..……………….……..Page 8-12

 Bloemfontein – (Pg. 8)  Durban – (Pg. 8-10)  Cape Town (Pg. 10-11)  Johannesburg – (Pg. 11)  Newtown – (Pg. 11)  – (Pg. 11-12)  Randburg – (Pg. 12)

Some History behind Name Changes in South Africa………..……….………….Page 13-15

Final word……………………………………………………………………………………………..Page 16

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Introduction 2

I am sure most can relate to this short story, especially if you live in South Africa.

I was taking a trip back from Pretoria to Phalaborwa, which I had done many times over the years. I got to the end of my trip on the N4 highway, turned left onto the R33 to Belfast which then turns off onto R540 to , which eventually lands you up in .

Having done this trip so many times, I was basically driving the route in ‘automatic’ (you know the kind, when you start your vehicle to go to town on Saturday and then find yourself at work ‘kind of automatic’ – and yes, that has happened to me as well…lol).

Anyways, so here I am, driving in ‘automatic’ and I spot a road sign telling me that I am on my way to a place called Mashishing?? I think to myself, “Oh no, am I going to some Township, or am I doing one of my famous trips to Durban via Cape Town?” (just in case anybody is worrying if I actually land up at my intended destinations, the answer is yes – even if I take a tour of our scenic countryside, I always land up there where I am going – and that is only because I don’t hit the panic button, but use what little sense of direction I have, and the tinie-winnie bit of knowledge of what is where on the South African map, to find my way to my actual destination – goes to show, ‘some knowledge is better than no knowledge…..).

So now I was trying to figure out where I was, retracing back where I turned and was it definitely left when I turned. After giving this some thought, I was positive that I had taken the correct turns. So my next step was to look at the scenery………………… (go figure - seen a lot of it in my day of traveling from one town to another – one can practically call it, ‘Die Groot Trek’) ………. and was thinking, ‘yes, this does look familiar – I must be on the correct route’.

My thought was not even complete when I reached the T-junction that announced that I was in Lydenburg. Gee, what a relief – I was actually going to be on time this time around.

Jokes aside – I was watching the South African Open Championship ‘hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni’ with my Fiancé’ (which is part of the European Golf Tournament), and I asked him, “Where is Ekrhuleni?” His answer, “I am not sure, but I think it is an area in Gauteng/Johannesburg”. And I thought to myself – ‘How sad is that? We are both born in South Africa and we do not know where a place is in South Africa!’ My next thought was, ‘Eish, poor foreigners………….good luck trying to pronounce these new names when asking any South African for directions’.

The long and short of it – I decided to create an easy guide to the ever changing names of our wonderful country, South Africa. My hope is that this small guide assists you when you find yourself in a situation where your question is, “Where on earth am I” or “Where is………………”.

PS: Please excuse me if I have misspelt any of the names in this guide – some are unpronounceable, let alone ‘spellable’ 

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List of Provinces 3

South Africa has 9 x Provinces:

Limpopo (former Northern )

Mpumalanga (former Eastern Transvaal)

Gauteng (former Transvaal)

North West (former NW Transvaal)

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List of Provinces continued: 4

Free State (former )

KwaZulu-Natal (former Natal) The Cape Province was divided into three Provinces:

Northern Cape

Eastern Cape

West Cape

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List of City/Town Names 5

Old to New – A-Z:

Old New Belfast eMakhazeni (2009) Bisho Bhisho (2004) Butterworth Gcuwa Duiwelskloof Modjadjiskloof (2004) Ellisras Lephalale (2002) Louis Trichardt Makhado → Louis Trichardt Machadodorp eNtokozweni (2009) Malelane (2007) Messina Musina (2003) Naboomspruit Mookgophong (2006) Nelspruit (2009) Nylstroom Modimolle (2002) Phalaborwa BaPhalaborwa Pietersburg Polokwane (2005) Potgietersrus Mokopane (2003) Stanger KwaDukuza (2006) Umtata Mthatha (2004) Verwoerdburg Centurion (1994) Warmbad/Warmbaths Bela-Bela (2002) Waterval Boven Emgwenya (2009) Witbank eMalahleni (2006)

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List of City/Town Names Continued: 6

New to Old – A-Z:

New Old BaPhalaborwa Phalaborwa Bela-Bela (2002) Warmbad/Warmbaths Bhisho (2004) Bisho Centurion (1994) Verwoerdburg eMakhazeni (2009) Belfast eMalahleni (2006) Witbank Emgwenya (2009) Waterval Boven eNtokozweni (2009) Machadodorp Gcuwa Butterworth KwaDukuza (2006) Stanger Lephalale (2002) Ellisras Makhado → Louis Trichardt Louis Trichardt Malalane (2007) Malelane Mbombela (2009) Nelspruit Modimolle (2002) Nylstroom Modjadjiskloof (2004) Duiwelskloof Mokopane (2003) Potgietersrus Mookgophong (2006) Naboomspruit Mthatha (2004) Umtata Musina (2003) Messina Polokwane (2005) Pietersburg

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List of Other Towns/Airports names 7

Old New

Towns: Almansdrift Mbhongo Bisho (former capital of ) Bhisho Bochum Senwabarwana Mhlambanyatsi Cala Kala Dendron Mogwadi Dzanani township Mphephu Engcobo Ngcobo Hectorspruit Emjejane Idutywa Dutywa Lydenburg Mashishing Machadodorp eNtokozweni Mafeking Mahikeng Makhado township Dzanani Piet Retief emKhondo Skilpadfontein Marapyane Soekmekaar Morebeng Triomf Sophiatown (former capital of Umtata ) Mthatha Vaalwater Mabatlane → Vaalwater

Airports: Ben Schoeman Airport Eastern Cape East London Airport Port Elizabeth International H.F. Verwoerd Airport Eastern Cape Airport K.D. Matanzima Airport Eastern Cape Mthatha Airport Bram Fischer Airport Free State Bloemfontein Airport Jan Smuts Int. Airport Gauteng O.R. Tambo international Airport D.F. Malan Int. Airport Western Cape Cape Town International Airport Louis Botha Int. Airport ZwaZulu Natal King Shaka International Airport

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List of Street names 8-12

Bloemfontein Old New Andries Pretorius Street Raymond Mhlaba Bankvos Boulevard Elias Motsoealedi Road Eeufees Road Kenneth Kaunda Road Haldron Road Walter Sisulu Maitland Charlotte Maxeke Street Voortrekker Road Nelson Mandela Road

EThekwini Municipal Area: (Durban Metro) Old New Abrey Road Moses Kotane Road Adams Road Khotha Mkhunya Road Albert Street Ingcunce Road Alice Street Johannes Nkosi Street Aliwal Street Samore Machel Street Argyle Road Sandile Thusi Road Baber Street J N Singh Street Beatrice Street Charlotte Maxeke Street Bellair Road Vusi Mzimele Road Bellevue Road Amilcar Cabral Road Berea Road (North) King Dinuzulu Road (North) Berea Road (South) King Dinuzulu Road (South ) Bideford Road Zinto Cele Road Bikaner Road Krishna Rabilal Road Blair Atholl Road Rodger Sishi Road Booth Road Spine Road Harry Gwala Road Brickfield Road Felix Dlamin Road Brickhill Road Sylvester Ntuli Road Broadway Swapo Road Broad Street Dr Yusuf Dadoo Street Canal Road Richard Walne Road Cato Manor Road Mary Thiphe Street Portion of Francois Road Bellair Centenary Road M L Sultan Road Chatsworth Circle R K Khan Circle Chelmsford Road J B Marks Road

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Commercial Road Dr AB Xuma Street Cowey Road Problem Mkhize Road Dartnel Cresent Gladys Manzi Road Devenport Road Helen Joseph Road Bikaner Road Krishna Rabilal Road Dharwar Road Krishna Rabilal Road Dores Lane Sanele Nxumalo Lane Duranta Road Basil February Road Edwin Swales VC Drive Solomon Mahlangu Drive Essenwood Road Stephen Dlamini Road Edith Benson Road Problem Mkhize Road Field Street Joe Slovo Street First Avenue Mathews Meyiwa Road Fischer Road - Hillcrest Blessing Ninela Road Fisher Street Masobiya Mdluli Street Francois Road Rick Turner Road Frere Road Esther Roberts Road Gale Street Magwaza Maphalala Street Gardiner Street Dorothy Nyembe Street Goble Road Smiso Nkwanyana Road Gray Park Road Dr Hoosen Haffajee Road Grey Street Dr Yusuf Dadoo Street King Cetshwayo Highway + Whole of Jan Smuts Highway M13 Kensingston Drive Adelaide Tambo Drive King George V Avenue Mazisi Kunene Road Kingsway Andrew Zondo Road KwaMashu Highway Curnick Ndlovu Highway Lamontville Main Msizi Dube Road Leopold Street David Webster Street Lorne Street Ismail C Meer Street M27 Jabu Ngcobo Drive M35 (Sipho Mkhize Drive) Sbu Magwanyane Drive Main Road - Tongaat Gopalall Hurbans Road MR 385 Mthoko Mkhize Drive T/Ship - Manning Road Lena Ahrens Road Mansfield Road Steve Biko Road Marine Parade O R Tambo Parade Marriot Road Gladys Mazibuko Road Masonic Grove Dullar Omar Grove McDonald Road Alan Paton Road Mitchell Road Gladys Manzi Road Moore Road Che Guevara Road Moss Street George Sewpersadh Street MR577 Dumisani Makhaye Drive Newlands East Drive Musa Dladla Drive

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Nicholson Road Z K Matthews Road NMR Avenue Masabalala Yengwa Avenue North Coast Road Chris Hani Road North Ridge Road Peter Mokaba Road Northern Drive - Phoenix A G Champion Drive Northway Kenneth Kaunda Road Northern Freeway Ruth First Freeway Old Dutch Road Chris Ntuli Road Old Fort Place Archie Gumede Place Old Fort Road K E Masinga Road Old Main Road - Isipingo Phila Road Isipingo Old Main Road - Pinetown Josiah Gumede Road Old Main Road - South Road Wanda Cele Road Ordinance Road Bram Fischer Road Pelican Drive Lenny Naidu Drive Pine Street Monty Naicker Road Point Road Mahatma Gandhi Road Prince Alfred Street Florence Nzama Street Prince Edward Street Dr Goonam Street Queen Street Denis Hurley Street R 603 Sbu Mkhize Drive Queen Mary Avenue Sphiwe Zuma Avenue Richmond Road Henry Pennington Road Ridge Road Peter Mokaba Ridge Russell Street Joseph Nduli Street Shepstone Road Qashana Khuzwayo Road Smith Street Anton Lembede Street Sparks Road Moses Kotane Road Mxenge Highway(Mangosuthu Spinal Road at Umlazi Griffiths Highway) St George’s Street Maud Mfusi Street Stanley Copley Drive R D Naidu Drive Sydenham Road John Zikhali Stanger Street Stalwart Simelane Street South Ridge Road Mazisi Kunene Road King George V Avenue Victoria Street Bertha Mkhize Street Victoria Embankment Margaret Mncadi Avenue Walter Gilbert Road Isaiah Ntshangase Road Warwick Avenue Julius Nyerere Avenue Watson Highway Ushukela Drive West Street Dr Pixley KaSeme Street Williams Road Khuzimpi Shezi Road Willowvale Road Albert Dlomo Road Winder Street Dr Langalibalele Dube Street Windermere Road Lillian Ngoyi Road

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Western Cape (Cape Town) Old New Coen Steytler Avenue Walter Sisulu Avenue Harrier Street (Parklands) Blue Crane Street Hendrik Verwoerd Drive Uys Krige Drive Lansdowne Road as follows: From Swartklip to Baden Powell Jeff Masemola Road From Turfhall to Palmyra Imam Haron Road From Wetton to Swartklip Govan Mbeki Road From Wetton to Turfhall remains Lansdowne Road Modderdam Road Robert Sobukwe Road NY1 Steve Biko Drive Unnamed footbridge between Langa & Bonteheuwel Bonte-Langa footbridge

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan (Johannesburg Metro) Old New Bree Street Lilian Ngoyi Street Jeppe Street Rahima Moosa Noord Street Sophie de Bruyn President Street will be known as Helen Joseph Street Sauer Street Pixley ka Isaka Seme Street

Newtown: (changed to Artist names) Old New

Avenue Road Dolly Rathebe Road

Becker Street Gerard Sekoto Street

Bezuidenhout Street Miriam Makeba Street

Carr Street Retained its original name

Goch Street Henry Nxumalo Street

Minaar Street Mahlathini Street

Park Road Barney Simon Road

Pim Street Gwigwi Mrwebi Street

Sydenham Street Noria Mabasa Street

West Street Ntemi Piliso Street

Wolhuter Street Margaret Mcingana Street

Tshwane Municipal Area (Pretoria Metro) Old New Leah Mangope Road Peter Magano Lucas Mangope Road Molefe Makinta Church Street, from Nelson Mandela Drive to the east Stanza Bopape Church Street, from Nelson Mandela Drive to Church Sq Helen Joseph Church Street, from Church Square to R511 WF Nkomo Church Street, from R511 to the west Elias Motswaledi Michael Brink Street Nico Smith Zambezi Drive Sefako Makgatho

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Hendrik Verwoerd Drive Johan Heyns Beatrix / Mears / Voortrekker Street Steve Biko Hans Strijdom Avenue Solomon Mahlangu Mitchell Street Charlotte Maxeke Schoeman Street Francis Baard Van der Walt Street Lilian Ngoyi Andries Street Thabo Sehume DF Malan Street Es’kia Mphahlele Prinsoo Street Sisulu Skinner Street Nana Sita Jacob Maree Street Jeff Masemola Queen Wilhelmina Avenue Florence Ribeiro Drive Esselen Street Robert Sobukwe Vermeulen Street Madiba Drive Schubart Street Sophie de Bruyn Potgieter Street Kgosi Mampuru Proes Street Johannes Ramokhoase Duncan Street Jan Shoba Genl. Louis Botha Drive January Masilela Walker Charles Street Justice Mohammed Voortrekkerhoogte Thaba Tshwane 1998

Randburg Old New Hans Strijdom Drive Malibongwe Hendrik Verwoerd Drive Bram Fischer Drive

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Some History behind name changes in South Africa 13

Limpopo Province

The most northerly province of South Africa, the Limpopo province saw some of the earliest name changes and to date more than any other province. The province was carved out of the former Transvaal and initially named the Northern-Transvaal until the following year when it was known simply as the Northern Province. It kept this name until 2002 when it was renamed after the Limpopo River which forms South Africa's border with Zimbabwe. Settlement name changes especially targeted places of origin, such as Pietersburg (Polokwane), Nylstroom (Modimolle) and Ellisras (Lephalale) and Potgietersrust (Mokopane), while avoiding places with Bantu or English names such as Northam, Alldays, Tzaneen and Thabazimbi. The Limpopo is the most ethnically black province in South Africa (96.7% as of 2011) and therefore predominantly Afrikaans name changes would probably go ahead with less opposition.

Mpumalanga Province

Mpumalanga means ‘The East’ or ‘The place where the sun rises’.

Mpumalanga, itself renamed in 1995 from the Eastern Transvaal, has seen the entire northern half of the province renamed since 2005, and similarly to the Limpopo, most have been a result of transformation of mostly Afrikaans named places (but also a few of British-origin). These have included the capital, Nelspruit (Mbombela) as well as Witbank (eMalahleni) and Lydenburg (Mashishing). Unlike the Limpopo, the name changes in Mpumalanga have largely (as of 2011) been ignored and apart from the city of Witbank, road signs and usage of the new names has been rare. A couple of settlements of Bantu origin have also changed their names because they were misspelled by early settlers such as Malelane which was renamed to Malalane.

Gauteng Province

Gauteng, which is the industrial and mining heartland of South Africa, is a Sesotho word meaning ‘at the gold’. The Colloquial City name for Johannesburg is called eGoli, literally meaning ‘the place of gold’.

Gauteng, South Africa's most urbanized province, has seen a number of name changes, but mostly for economic or historical reasons, rather than Africanisation. Probably the most controversial name change in South African history has been that of Pretoria, where there have been proposals to change the city's name to Tshwane (already the name of the metro it lies in).

Settlements:

 Verwoerdburg → Centurion (1994) o The first name change in post-1994 South Africa. Verwoerdburg was named after Hendrik Verwoerd, the so-called "architect of Apartheid" and was deemed offensive to many people and was changed to the neutral name of Centurion.  Sophiatown → Triomf (1954) → Sophiatown (2006) o In 2006 the suburb of Triomf had its name restored to Sophiatown. Before 1954 the area (then named Sophiatown) was mostly occupied by blacks but were forcibly moved due to it being near local white suburbs. The area was rezoned as Triomf (Afrikaans for "Triumph") with the former name restored 52 years later.

The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality covers cities such as Pretoria, Centurion, Temba and Hammanskraal.

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North West Province

In May 2013 North West province premier Thandi Modise said the province needed to be renamed and not just be referred to as a "direction on a compass". One of the suggestions has been to rename North West after politician and activist Moses Kotane. There is, however, already a municipality in the province named after him.

Free State Province

The Free State, formerly Orange Free State, has only experienced minor name changes. The province recently renamed its only international airport in Bloemfontein after anti-apartheid activist Bram Fischer.

KwaZulu-Natal Province

The colloquial City name for Durban is called eThekwini, which translates as ‘On the Bay’ (although some controversy was caused when several eminent Zulu linguists claimed that the name actually means ‘the one- testicled one’ referring to the shape of the bay).

The KwaZulu-Natal province was formed in 1994 from the merger of the then province of Natal and former homeland of KwaZulu.

Cape Province: Northern Cape

The Northern Cape is the only province in South Africa not having undergone any known significant name changes since 1994. The province has an Afrikaans speaking majority and it's unlikely therefore the local population favor any name changes.

Cape Province: Eastern Cape

The Nelson Mandela Metropole covers the East London/Port Elizabeth area.

The Eastern Cape has, after the Limpopo province, been home to the most name changes in post-1994 South Africa. Most name changes have been correcting misspellings in the former homelands of Transkei and Ciskei (see pg. 8). There have also been a number of name change proposals in the western half of the province for places of Afrikaans or English origin.

Cape Province: Western Cape

Colloquial City Name for Cape Town is eKapa.

Similarly to the Northern Cape as noted above, the Western Cape has experienced only a few minor street name changes in the largest cities, but have escaped major name changes of cities and towns because the majority of the population are not Black, but instead Afrikaans or English-speaking . Since 2007 the Western Cape has also the highest white percentage (having overtaken Gauteng) and stood in 2007 at 18.4%. There have, however, been a number of suggested name changes, particularly on the southern coast of the province such as for the towns of George or Mossel Bay.

Helen Suzman Boulevard in Cape Town, renamed from Western Boulevard in 2011

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It has been proposed to rename Cape Town (known in Afrikaans and Xhosa as Kaapstad and iKapa respectively) to Hui Gaeb (meaning "where the clouds gather"); however, this has been met with strong opposition and it is likely that the ruling party of Cape Town and the Western Cape (the DA) will oppose this. The name has been proposed by the Khoisan community.

Criteria for Name Changes in South Africa

Legitimate grounds for changing a name, according to the South African Geographical Names Council, include offensive linguistic corruption of a name, a name that's offensive because of its associations, and when a name replaced an existing one people would like restored. Any government department, provincial government, local authority, the post office, property developer, or other body or person can apply for a name to be approved using the official form.

Final word 16

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Although there are so many more changes, this short guide is intended to assist, and hopefully enlighten, us regards to the main name changes in South Africa. I have tried to be as accurate as possible, bearing in mind that ‘the names are ever changing and ‘evolving’ here in South Africa.

I have learnt a lot whilst compiling this short guide, and am confident that it will be of use to whoever has this ‘nifty piece of information’ on hand.

With this guide downloaded onto your mobile phone, I am sure we can be of more use to those ‘poor foreigners’ (mentioned in my introduction) who may ask us for directions – never mind saving us from that embarrassing moment 

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this short guide, as I have enjoyed compiling it.

Till next time,

Ursela du Preez

Copyright Ursela du Preez 2015

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I have created this short guide with the New Names of South Africa for all of us that are forever asking ourselves the question: “Where the heck am I?”

Since South Africa is ever changing names of Provinces, Cities, Town and Street names, I think it has become necessary for us to keep a ‘pocket book’ (downloaded onto your mobile phone) at hand all the time so that when we find ourselves lost, when actually we are NOT LOST, but, in fact, just think we are lost due to not recognizing a name on a sign board, we can find our way around.

It will also assist us in being able to give accurate directions – if you know what the previous name was (which I am sure you do – we were also born here!) – you can quickly look up if the name is still the same, or use both names in your directions in case the board has not changed lol.

Guide compiled by: Ursela du Preez 2015

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