Name change debate hots up

AfriForum and Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan have challenged one another to do their homework about Afrikaans place names being targeted for name changes.

In their latest exchange of open correspondence, AfriForum chief executive Kallie Kriel wrote: "I think your ministry would benefit from having another look at the town and city names which have already been changed are being subjected to this process at present: Pietersburg, Louis Trichardt, Potgietersrus, Nylstroom, Warmbad, Ellisras, Duiwelskloof, Lydenburg, Pretoria, Potchefstroom and many more."

Jordan had advised AfriForum to "be a little more cautious about allegations that Afrikaans place names have been singled out".

"I doubt that you have done exhaustive research on the matter... I can assure you that inspection of name changes will demonstrate that your allegation is unfounded."

Jordan has questioned why he should need to consult AfriForm’s board of 13 academics, as AfriForum has requested, threatening legal action should the government not do so.

The academics should rather have offered themselves to the South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC), he said.

Jordan said the council was made up of a number of experts drawn from civil society, including academics.

However, he said he was prepared to meet with them, "but solely in their capacity as South African citizens, who have a right to approach their government on matters that concern them."

AfriForum said it believed that the final responsibility to ensure that flawed named-changing processes were not approved, rested with Jordan’s ministry, and not the council as the minister had suggested.

"AfriForum charged that its efforts to persuade the SAGNC to allow public participation, specifically about the name of Pretoria, had simply been ignored," said Kriel.

"The most significant example in this regard is that my request to be allowed to make a representation in person to the SAGNC’s meeting in Bloemfontein in May 2005 - where the decision was made to recommend that Pretoria’s name has to be changed - was rejected

by the former chairperson of SAGNC, Advocate Tommy Ntsewa."

AfriForum has claimed that the registration of Tshwane as a place name did not follow correct procedures.

He said Ntsewa had acted in breach of regulations by having been both a participant and an arbitrator in the process.

Earlier this week AfriForum, which was born out of the trade union Solidarity, threatened legal action if the government refused to meet its panel of academics.

Sapa

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AfriForum threatens legal action over name changes

28 January 2007
AfriForum has offered the government a panel of 13 Afrikaner historians and academics to help deal with the issue of name changes, and threatened legal action if the offer is refused.

The civil rights initiative, established by the trade union Solidarity, said on Sunday that it had asked Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan to consult with the panel about the cultural and historical significance of Afrikaans place names before approving changes.

Failure to do so would see AfriForum resorting to legal action, their statement read.

"AfriForum's proposal to the minister follows in reaction to continued efforts to change Afrikaans place names, such as Pretoria and Potchefstroom, which are of great cultural historical significance, especially to Afrikaners."

Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, stressed that the organisation did not oppose all name changes, but most strongly objected to the changing of names which are of great cultural and historical significance to specific communities.

AfriForum warned that ill-considered changing of place names, especially when the impression is created that primarily Afrikaans place names of great cultural historical significance are being targeted, is a "recipe for undesirable polarisation in South Africa".

"If Dr Jordan were to ignore this constructive proposal of participation and simply forge ahead subjectively, changing the names of Pretoria and Potchefstroom, AfriForum will definitely resort to legal action, based on the irregularities in the name-changing process followed to date," Kriel said.

He believes that political agendas, rather than public participation, had thus far been determining factors in name changing processes.

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Yengeni ritual spearheads cultural row

January 23 2007

The Arts and Culture Ministry has lashed out at critics of the ritual bull slaughter by Tony Yengeni after his release from prison last week.

The animal was speared in a traditional cleansing ceremony at the Gugulethu home of Yengeni's parents at the weekend.

The SPCA has confirmed it is investigating criminal charges under the Animal Protection Act.

But Sandile Memela, spokesperson for Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan, waded into the controversy on Monday, accusing critics of racism, ignorance, hypocrisy and lack of respect for African culture.

"This is definitely not an SPCA matter, because it is not about cruelty to animals. Instead, it is about man's search for meaning, purpose and the redefinition of the relationship with the cosmos, God and his ancestry," Memela said.

"It is the constitutional right of all indigenous families and communities to perform rituals that reconnect them to their ancestors. That promotes peace of mind in their lives.

"The department upholds this right, including that of the Yengeni family, to practise their own cultural rituals.

"We would encourage people to accept that we live in a multi- cultural and diverse society, which will continue to be characterised by differences in how we do things.

"No one should rush to condemn those who practise their own rituals. What we know is that Christian religion, for instance, traces this ritual of slaughter back to the days of Abraham.

"Also, in modern society, those in Muslim and Jewish communities, for example, have their own way to kill animals in an effort to make the meat halaal or kosher.

"Strangely, this is not considered abnormal and their right to do this is rarely questioned. However, in the Yengeni family case, we observe what could easily pass for selective racism that condemns the practice of African rituals.

"What compounds this is that the criticism is based on ignorance, contempt and lack of respect for African culture.

"This is hypocritical because there is no universal standard to look at this matter."

ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha also jumped to the Yengeni family's defence: "The SPCA is very, very insensitive to the culture of African people. It's very, very important. It's fundamental to your being.

"We African people will practise our culture and no one under the sun will ever stop us. This is part of our being human," he said.

But the SPCA's Andries Venter said the organisation was obliged to investigate any allegations of cruelty towards animals.

"Once we have completed our investigation, we will have a meeting with the executives at the SPCA and forward the docket to the police, who will then hand it over to the State prosecutor for a decision," Venter said.

Asked what sanction an offender could face, he said criminal offences under the Animal Protection Act carry sentences of up to 12 months in jail or a maximum fine of R200 000.

Nokuzola Mndende, head of the Icamagu Institution, an institution promoting African culture and religion, said the SPCA was interfering with African religion and culture and it was "none of their business".

"I am concerned about their imposition on our religious beliefs - yet they do not make the same noise when the Muslims slaughter animals.

"The animal was not wounded when it cried. If the animal does not make a sound it will be set free and the person who the ritual was performed for would have to consult the sangoma, to find out from the ancestors why they were not satisfied," she said.

"Yengeni belongs to his clan. The decision to have the ceremony was not his own; his clan elders decided he must do the ritual cleansing."

Mndende said the assegai had to be used because it was sacred to the clan and Yengeni's extended family.

But Cape Town mayor Helen Zille said: "Lots of people say that discriminatory practices against women are part of their culture. They defend patriarchy as their right - does that mean that women have to accept that?

"We've evolved as a society and we have a constitution and laws for very good reasons," Zille said. "The constitution makes very clear provision for people's cultural rights.

"But where there is conflict head-on with the law … I believe the law must triumph.

"Otherwise you end up in situations in which people are above the law … otherwise we're on a very slippery slope."

Human Rights Commission head Jody Kollapen said : "The right to cultural liberty is a human right. Cultural liberty is an integral part of human identity.

"And cultural liberty is recognised by our constitution and at an international level.

"If approached, the HRC would be to say, let's start an important dialogue on what we understand by cultural liberty, what its parameters would be, and its limitations.

"This is just one instance of a dispute in the public domain," he said.

"I don't think we can simply take a simplistic approach, to say that by someone's definition this is unacceptable and must therefore be outlawed.

"We have to interrogate the question: what is diversity?"

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State steps in after Cape ferry fiasco

A high-level national government delegation has been dispatched to Cape Town to assess the Robben Island ferry fiasco, which has turned into an international embarrassment for South Africa. But despite the apparent gross lack of planning at the height of the prime tourism season, it appears unlikely that any heads will roll.

Sandile Memela, spokesperson for Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan, said the "shenanigans are an embarrassment with the potential to dent SA's international image. But this does not need the minister to fire anyone".

Mechanical problems with the Robben Island Museum's ageing ferries, some of which are 50 years old, have meant that thousands of tourists hoping to visit the World Heritage Site - many of whom had booked months in advance - have had their trips cancelled.

Memela said the ministry had been assured that "things were under control and operations would be normalised by the end of today (Friday)".

"We hope a solution will be found soon ... there is no cause for alarm."

But tourists, in South Africa over peak season, have been bitterly disappointed as, for many of them, a visit to the island was meant to be a highlight of their holiday.

Jeff Bagg, the chief financial officer for the Autshumato company, which previously had the Robben Island ferry contract, said that in their seven years of operating, they never cancelled a single trip, barring days when the weather was too foul to make the crossing.

During peak season between December 16 and January 16 they conducted 10 trips a day, taking a total of 1 500 people across.

"It's fewer now. They must be losing a fortune."

Bagg said that the Robben Island Museum management appeared to have been under the impression that it was an easy operation to run.

"But they do not understand the business," he said. We knew this would happen."

Bagg said that Autshumato, which is a 100 percent black-owned empowerment company, formed by ex-political prisoners, would still be prepared to help out, if asked.

"But it is unlikely because they are getting their new 300-seater ferry which should come into play sometime this year."

When their contract ended last September, Autshumato managing director Jama Matakata said that "what hurt the most" was that the decision had been taken by people with whom he had been behind bars during the struggle.

The new ferry is being built by Farocean Marine in Table Bay, reportedly at a cost of R26-million and it is expected to be completed by February or March.

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The A to Z of cultural catastrophe

A is for assisted suicide . Having been praised for establishing one of the country’s most credible art awards, emanating ironically from incredible quarters, the Kebble family resolved to put to death their deceased relative’s illustrious (R300 0000) hand-out to artists. Although the “assisted suicide” of the mining magnate happened in 2005, it was this year that Brett’s father Roger broke his oath, “The Kebble art awards will proceed.” Other assisted suicides included the Golden Bear award-winning Dimpho di Kopane opera company, which fell out with their sponsor Spier -- although they did recently reopen.

B is for bugger me silly, which is what writer and filmmaker Aryan Kaganof suggested Market Theatre artistic director Malcolm Purkey would do to him if audiences didn’t attend one of his shows. In a group email he also took the opportunity to make a slanderous, homophobic remark about Mail & Guardian film critic Shaun de Waal: “Please come -- we had to guarantee the Market Theatre that at least 67 people would turn up and, apparently, if [you] don’t turn up, Malcolm Purkey will fist fuck me and, since I’m not Shaun de Waal, this does not seem like a pleasant alternative.”

C is for cocaine (as usual), mountains of it consumed by stars that seem to be forever coming clean but not staying that way. This year’s special mention is kwaito star Brickz, who dumped promoters and thousands of fans. He didn’t pitch at gigs in Rustenberg, White River, Maputo and Jo’burg -- a loss of R50 000. Last weekend he was bust for possession of dagga after a dramatic, high-speed car chase.

D is for “Don’t piss on my battery, especially when I’m representing my country”, and refers to the day in July when a car purposefully crashed into the audience of the South African festival -- organised by Germany’s ministry of international development at the World Cup in Berlin -- during a set by Afro-rocker Johnny Clegg. To the surprise of many, the Malaysian driver turned out to be an attention seeker, not a terrorist.

E is for eish, and was probably uttered by many Jo’burg youngsters who volunteered in October to take HIV tests before the Levi’s Rage for the Revolution concert in return for free tickets. HIV education experts agreed that there was no harm in this instance of the radical marketing campaign for jeans, which involved rewards for testing. Counsellors were trained and invited celebrities were encouraged to find out their HIV status.

F is for “It’s a funny country”, to loan a phrase from some corny, long-forgotten local movie. Not so funny was the physical attack on Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer in October. She was locked in a storeroom by thieves who assaulted her for not handing over her wedding ring. The Guardian reported that Gordimer was overcome more by sympathy than fear, and she commented, “I thought, ‘Shouldn’t there be a better use for these hands, this arm, than robbing an old woman?’”

G is for gone but not forgotten: Lebo Mathosa, Jabu Khanyile, McCoy Mrubata’s brutally murdered 22-year-old daughter Nonceba Mzondo, Taliep Petersen, the State Theatre’s Michael Lovegrove, film director Robert Altman and the country’s wealth of youngsters robbed of life by HIV-related illness. In response to Mathosa’s untimely death, department of arts and culture Director General Itumeleng Mosala said: “I was so shocked that I called colleagues and friends to confirm if it was true.”

H is for homosexuals who are, apparently, still not a part of African culture. The Golden Shower award for HIV Research and Prevention goes to former deputy president and sex bomb Jacob Zuma who, in September, said: “When I was growing up, an ungqingili [gay] would not have stood in front of me. I would knock him out.” Happily, H is also for Happy Birthday. The Market Theatre turned 30, Ballet Theatre Afrikan turned 10 and we looked back on 50 years since the Women’s March on Parliament in 1956, 30 years since the Soweto student uprisings and 100 years of the Sunday Times, all of which have contributed to the culture of the rainbow nation.

I is for the most intriguing official press release issued in 2006. In November, the department of arts and culture released a statement justifying why it is wrong for South Africans to dub them the “party department of government”. “We are not the entertainment wing,” Minister Pallo Jordan wrote, saying the nickname is a “distortion” before listing his department’s achievements.

J is always for Jo’burg . J is also for junk. This year’s Best Trash Award goes to Pikitup, which this month announced its plan to open a state-of-the-art green waste recycling centre in Bryanston. Runner-up is LeZulu Blanc Johnny Clegg, who this year released his album One Life and who, some may know, is part owner of Jozi-based company Vuthela, which recycles old cellphones and computers.

K is for “in the kak” and refers here to the country’s People’s Poet and convicted bank robber Mzwakhe Mbuli. It is alleged that he dragged his wife Doris a few metres when she refused to hand him the car keys in mid-December. Perhaps the refrain from his great struggle poem Who is in Lusaka? should be changed to Who is in the Kaka?

L is for Love. Apparently real love in South Africa is now best expressed through, well, no love at all. The website True Love Waits notes that, to date, 380 000 squeaky clean web surfers have signed the online pledge to “stay pure until marriage”. In November, an international survey of 59 countries showed that teens are, in fact, waiting longer to have sex and married people are enjoying more sex than ever.

M is for mushrooms, cele­brated in Soweto. Yes, Gauteng’s mother township held the second instalment of its most bizarre annual bash -- the Soweto Mushroom Festival -- in May. Visitors drank the weird concoction of brandy, Amarula liquor, sugar and, you guessed it, mushrooms. M is also for murder, in this case the recent killing of musical genius Taliep Petersen and, in April, of Crazy Monkey: Straight Outta Benoni feature film creator Brett Goldin and his boyfriend, dress designer Richard Bloom. The two were found naked in Mowbray, bullet holes in their heads. The tragedy inspired discussion about who was more trashed in the wee hours of that fateful morning -- the victims, who were returning from a party, or the perpetrators, who stole Bloom’s VW Polo and a credit card.

N is for the latter part of the province name KwaZulu-Natal -- and the coming debate, in 2007, about whether Natal will be dropped from KwaZulu.

O is for Oscar and must go to director Gavin Hood’s drama of crime and introspection Tsotsi. In February, the M&G took some real tsotsis to see the movie and one thug complained, “Tsotsi didn’t bath. I don’t really get what’s going on there, but I am not used to gangsters that aren’t clean.” Hood later complained in a magazine interview that the M&G story was “in pretence of objectivity”.

P is for Potch, that swinging town in the North West battling to come to terms with its proposed name change to Tlokwe, which is what the place was called before Andries Hendrik Potgieter hit the area in 1838. “This is the will of the people,” said Jordan. Meanwhile, a nasty blogger wrote: “The voortrekker builded [sic] the town up from nothing. Now the ANC wants to play bulldozer with the Afrikaner community. What are we going to call ourselves now? Tlokweliers.”

Q is for the queen. Helen Mirren stars as her royal highness in Stephen Frears’s acclaimed drama-bordering-on-satire, which opens locally in January. A British critic wrote: “Her majesty is in good company.” Q also goes for Freddie Mercury, lead singer of super group Queen, who would have turned 60 in 2006 had he not died in 1991 of an HIV-related illness. In commemoration, the company Neca created an 18-inch-high Mercury robot that sings a medley of hits while gyrating its hips -- the motion copied directly from the star’s 1986 Magic Tour.

R is for Roberts, the surname of South Africa’s bellicose writer Ronald Suresh Roberts. This year’s Ronald Suresh Roberts Award for Betrayal goes once again to Ronald Suresh Roberts, who took his spat with Nadine Gordimer to new depths when he sued the Sunday Times for a mere R300 000 for calling him “unlikeable” in a story about his standoff with the Nobel laureate.

S is for spooky stuff and refers to scams uncovered by the department. In September, it released information regarding a scam hinged on public funding to the arts. Criminals used the department’s logo, “claiming the department has mistakenly transferred more money into their accounts than they were supposed to and requesting them to refund the difference”. The second happened in August and concerned the theft and intended auctioning of the visitor’s book of the presidential official residence Mahlambandlovu.

T is for terrible -- the most terrible film made about a terrible event. Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center, created to commemorate five years since that event, was panned by Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw. He wrote: “There are some films so awful, of such insidious dishonesty and mediocrity, that their existence is a kind of scandal.”

U is for State of Undress. This year’s Rude Nude Award goes to Borat (aka Sacha Baron Cohen), who enthralled Cannes and either delighted or revolted audiences worldwide with his hideous little one-piece, full body green G-string. Kazakh ambassador to London, Erlan Idrissov, called Baron Cohen “a stupid, belligerent pig of a man”.

V is for vomit. The top international perpetrator of public tiger parking is mega star Paris Hilton, who spilled her guts in October after a night of strenuous clubbing with new best friend Britney Spears. Referring to the display, The Guardian reported: “Paris vomited on stage while attempting to sing her recent single, reflecting a growing commitment among celebrities to provide their own punchline.”

W is for what’s in, what’s out, Watson? This refers to the battle for ownership of the translation of traditional San poetry by poets Antjie Krog and Stephen Watson. Of course, nobody bothered to ask the descendants of the poets who they thought was the better perpetrator of plagiarism.

X is for X-rated. This year’s most X-rated joke must be the one about the new Adult World superstore that recently opened under a church called the Potter’s House in a converted office block in Melville. Plans are afoot to pressure the closure of the establishment, but in the meantime the folks upstairs are praying for the folks downstairs.

Y is for Yuck, a common response from ordinary people when they hear what the famous call their babies. Two years ago Gwyneth Paltrow got the award for Stupid Celebrity Baby Names when she called her kid Apple. Last year’s worst may have been Cruz Beckham. This year we were introduced to Bluebell Madonna Halliwell -- born to mother Gerry, who saw flowers everywhere late in her pregnancy. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who travelled to Namibia in May to have theirs named her simply Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. By the time Madonna got to adopt David Banda, lucky for him he was already branded.

Z is for boy wonder Zola, who was appointed Unicef regional goodwill ambassador at the African Development Forum in November. The 29-year-old rapper, television presenter and actor said nobly: “You can’t refer to this as a job. I grew up in the ghettos. I understand what it’s like to struggle. As long as I live I am going to fight social injustice.”

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Rural anti-poverty plan stuck in red tape

Most reasonable people would not dispute the contention that the single biggest challenge facing the new South Africa is the need to tackle, effectively and rapidly, the problem of pervasive poverty.

This is a challenge demanding creativity, determination, vision and money. It would have seemed, then, a dream come true when a project was proposed for an impoverished peri-urban area that promised to attract R3.5 billion in investment, which would create 2 570 permanent jobs (where there are now only 270) and that would generate 10 000 temporary jobs during its five-year development phase.

The project also delivered a solid empowerment partnership and promised to pump R170 million in land and cash into the welfare of the needy neighbourhood. More than this, it was designed to ensure that historic and cultural icons were placed in trust for the nation, that public open space was secured and that historic farming operations in the area, which were in danger of an economic meltdown, would be sustained permanently.

A dream concept, indeed, a win-win situation by any assessment, a singular initiative in the fight against poverty. Yet, three years after the plan for redevelopment of the historic Boschendal Estate between Franschhoek and Stellenbosch was put forward, it remains mired in a tangle of bureaucratic bungling and patent obstructionism.

The first phase of the plan is for the development of 18 estates of 23ha each; the second phase is made up of a 500-unit retirement village, a 120-room hotel, a residential component of 350 homes and a shopping centre around the old railway station, with most of the building being on areas already developed.

But the dream, for Clive Venning, the man who conceived it, and for his co-investors, is fast turning into a nightmare. "We believe that we have established a prototype for development of sensitive, historic areas like Boschendal," says Venning, who is the chief executive of the estate.

"This development meets all the concerns. It is a model for black empowerment. The company is 30 percent owned by black partners whose share is fully paid for. There is no free ride.

"It meets the environmental criteria. All the agricultural land - orchards, vineyard and olive groves - remains as a viable, integrated farming operation. Development takes place almost entirely only on the existing developed footprint."

The proposal also takes account of historic and cultural imperatives: the manor house and the historic buildings will be retained and placed in trust to the nation. All the public open spaces are retained. Nature reserves will be developed.

Perhaps most importantly, the project promised upliftment of the poor communities that live in the area. In terms of the scheme, 5 percent of all land sales and 0.5 percent of all resales would go into a trust set up especially for these communities. "We estimate that will generate R120 million cash for the people concerned. More than 10 percent of the land, totalling 270ha, will be donated to consolidate the villages in the area," Venning says.

The plan aims to make the historic, 320-year-old Boschendal Estate - a little piece of paradise in the Cape winelands - into a sustainable and productive development with barely any negative impact on the environment or rural ethos. So, if all the pieces of this happy jigsaw have been so carefully and properly fitted together, why does it present such a dismal and disjointed picture?

The answer is fairly simple: the bureaucratic and legal processes required for obtaining approval are so convoluted, time-consuming and costly, that a small group of objectors can hold the development hostage seemingly indefinitely. Added to this, a bureaucratic bungle is now causing further unnecessary delay.


Venning explains: "We have done all the required environmental and planning assessments and obtained all the necessary approvals from the appropriate national and regional government authorities. We received the approval of the Stellenbosch municipality and national and regional agriculture in May 2005, subject to comment from the SA Heritage Resources Agency (Sahra).

"There were three objections. We responded by undertaking a heritage impact study and produced a 500-page report on the issue. Eventually, in February 2006, Sahra approved the plan … Then came another shock. It appears that Sahra's council's term of office had expired and that it was not properly constituted, so Sahra couldn't answer the second set of appeals. The matter is now in the hands of Dr Pallo Jordan, the minister of arts and culture."

Meanwhile, the innovative plan for development of Boschendal waits and waits. The hopes of the poor communities of villages such as Pniel, Languedoc, Klemore, Groot Drakenstein and Johannesdal, who are fully behind the project, are also on hold. But the waiting will not be forever.

"We are investors, whose object is to make a return on our investment," says Venning. "At the moment, the delays are costing about R2 million a month and the total bill is now more than R48 million. There is only so long before investors begin to go think about ways of cutting their losses and enhancing their investment. Some investors have already moved on, although they have been replaced by one major investor from the Middle East, IFA Hotels and Resorts.

"Fortunately, the purchase of Boschendal - for a sum of R323 million back in 2003 - was a very good investment. The land has appreciated in value. The total area of 2 240ha consists of 26 separate farms and it would be a simple fall-back plan to sell these off one by one and recoup our investment."

But that would a great loss to many. It would mean the end of the empowerment initiative; the community would get nothing; and the general public would lose because the estate would probably go into private ownerships, closing off access to park land, nature reserves and historic places.

Venning hopes that it will not come to this. At best, the process of reconstituting Sahra and dealing with the heritage approval seems set to take a few months more. "We are entirely in the hands of the minister on this one." And, even if the minister acts with dispatch and proper approval is granted by early next year, objectors could delay the matter for anything up to 18 months by going to the Cape high court.

"I not sure how much longer investors will put up with this … we are still determined to go ahead. But patience is wearing thin."

So Venning is being forced to consider plan B while seeking ways to fast-track the process. For one thing, he intends meeting again with the three objectors - the Institute of Architects, the Franschhoek Trust and the Paarl Trust - to seek ways out of the morass.

He is also hoping that the government will take decisive action. But he warns that by the next board meeting - in February next year - investors could well have taken a different view, especially if it looks as if the process could drag on interminably - perhaps for another two years.

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Role of SA women downplayed in history books

Pallo Jordan, the arts and culture minister, says the role of women in the country's history has been downplayed in many written history books. Jordan was speaking at the launch of a book that he commissioned earlier this year as part of the 50th Anniversary of the women's anti-Pass March in August 1956.

The book titled Women in South African History also covers women's political and governance roles from the pre-colonial period as well as their experiences as slaves from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. It particularly commemorates women involved in the political struggle against apartheid.

Women in South African History also highlights the current challenges facing young African women like HIV/Aids and poverty.

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Hollow Victory for FF+ and Pretoria

The ruling of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission in favour of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) against the SABC's description of Pretoria as Tshwane has, once again, brought the issue of the Pretoria name change into the limelight.

Unfortunately, the way it is being reported will, inevitably, generate more heat than light.

Already, the FF+ has claimed a "victory" at the success of its complaint. What self-delusion!

The statement that the "Pretoria name will remain for now" marks no significant shift in government thinking. In fact, it states the obvious -- that Pretoria will retain its name for now until further notice!

It is the prerogative of Arts and Culture Minister Dr Pallo Jordan to make a decision on the matter. However, he feels strongly that this matter is of such national significance that it warrants careful deliberation and consultations.

We have to bear in mind that the African National Congress-led government is democratic and expresses the will of the people. It is not about to impose unilateral decisions on the people of SA.

It would be incorrect for anyone to suggest that government and-or the minister are dragging their feet on this matter.

We have to remind ourselves that the primary thrust of the arts and culture ministry is to build social cohesion and nurture a spirit of national unity as part of its vision.

We understand the anxiety and curiosity that sensational media reporting of this matter generates. Let us all be patient, understanding and co-operative until the minister feels that the consultative process has been exhausted.

It is important to appreciate that government has processes and systems in place and we all have to respect these. The time will come when a decision will be made. It has to express the will of the people!

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Party department big spenders

Since becoming a Ministry four years ago, the Department of Arts and Culture has hosted more than 60 functions locally and internationally.

But Minister Pallo Jordan insists it is unfair to label it the the “party department”.

“It has a central role in government’s programme of action in nation building, transformation, wealth creation and economic empowerment,” he said.

Among events the department has hosted are:

• the interment of the remains of Sarah Baartmann (R1,132 million),
  
• a tribute to Sarah Baartmann (R65 219),
  
• a Heritage Consultative Forum to discuss place names (R66 000),
  
• the North Sea Jazz Festival (twice at a cost of R93 500),
  
• a farewell function for outgoing Minister Brigitte Mabandla (R742 100),
  
• the launch of the SA/Mali manuscripts project (R48 000),
  
• an R85 000 bosberaad for ministry and department senior management,
  
• this year’s ministerial budget vote dinner (R57 090),
  
• Women’s Day celebrations (R2 505 271),
  
• the 2006 Cape Town International Jazz Festival (R1,2 million) and
  
• five Cannes Film Festivals totalling R655 532.

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Union name change may take years

Renaming the Union Buildings – the seat of government in Pretoria – could take years, said the Ministry of Arts and Culture.

“That could, as in the case of the OR Tambo (International Airport) name change, take up to three years,” said ministry spokesman Sandile Memela.

The proposal to change the name of Johannesburg International Airport was formally made in October 2003, and the official renaming took place last week.

The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) announced it had submitted a formal proposal to rename the Union Buildings after former ANC deputy president Walter Sisulu, who died in 2003.

The Union Buildings house the main government offices, including the presidency.

They were designed by Sir Herbert Baker and completed in 1913, three years after South Africa became a Union.

ANCYL spokesman Zizi Kodwa said the proposal had been submitted to the SA National Heritage Council (SANHC), whose CEO Sonwabile Mancotywa had expressed support.

Memela called the proposal “a significant development in the right direction”. He said the proposal would have to go first to the Tshwane Metro Council, as the Union Buildings were within its geographical area.

If the council approved the request it would be sent to the provincial Geographical Names Committee, then to the SA National Geographical Names Council.

A recommendation would then be made to the Minister, who would discuss it with the Cabinet before a decision was made.

“People must understand it’s not about the Minister imposing his will on the people, it’s the other way round,” said Memela.

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