Grahamstown to be named after Xhosa warrior
South African arts and culture hub, Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, will soon be known as Makhanda.
Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced on Friday that Government Gazette has published the changing of the name of the town.
The department’s Asanda Magaqa says the renaming of the town is part of government efforts to redress the past.
"Grahamstown is named after Colonel John Graham, whose name is captured in history as the most brutal Britsih commander of at the time," says Magaqa.
Magaqa says Makhanda was a Xhosa warrior, philosopher, prophet and a military man, who fought against colonialism.
"He would later be imprisoned at Robben Island. He was one of the first people to escape Robben Island."
Listen below:
This comes after 20 years of calls for the name of the town to be changed.
See the Government Gazette below:
