Ntshavheni: Name changes not meant to erase Afrikaners’ history

Ntshavheni responded to the comments on Thursday during a Post-Cabinet briefing.

 The newly renamed Winnie Mandela Drive in Sandton was officially unveiled on Tuesday by Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda.

The event coincided with what would have been Madikizela-Mandela’s 87th birthday.

The decision to rename one of the busiest streets in Joburg was met with mixed reactions. Opposition parties, including the DA, and lobby group AfriForum, questioned spending R250,000 on the project in the current economic climate.

Ntshavheni said President Cyril Ramaphosa's cabinet welcomed the renaming as an important step in recognising those who fought for the country's freedom.

"The renaming is part of a wider programme to unite society behind stalwarts who contributed to the nation's struggle for freedom and democracy. South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white and of all language groups that are recognised in the Constitution of this country, and the history of South Africa cannot be a history that excludes others.

“As a country, we need to recall that to build a nation. We need to make sure that we are all reflected in that nation. That is why a definition of the rainbow nation never fits the blacks because there is no black colour in the rainbow," added Ntshavheni.

Ntshavheni questioned the criticism levelled by the DA and AfriForum.

"For the DA and AfriForum to want to continue the exclusion of the African history and black history in this country to protect the history of Afrikaans minorities that also had a negative impact on blacks, it does not contribute to nation building.

“We do not want to create a situation where there’s an uprising by a group who feel excluded in the country they belong in, more so where they are in the majority because we continue to protect the history of the minority.

"It is only in this country that, after freedom, we have maintained Voortrekker Hoogte, we have maintained symbols of apartheid oppressors because we said we cannot erase a history, but there must be a history of an inclusive South Africa," she said.

"So, the renaming of William Nicol Drive to Winnie Mandela Drive is in line with building a united South Africa and also acknowledging the past that was oppressive and acknowledging the role of those who fought for the freedom of the majority of South Africans.”

ALSO READ