Today, as we continue to face the challenge of giving meaning to our democracy, the Gauteng education department has said that it will do away with all "apartheid names" attached to schools in the province.
Though it is important to rename our towns and streets, we should not fall into the trap of repeating the mistakes of the past.
Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said some schools had names that might be deemed offensive, such as Jan Smuts, Verwoerd, Mangope and Matanzima.
But we should avoid abusing the system to advance our narrow political ambitions.
Those who are in leadership today have a duty to look beyond the spoils of their victory and demonstrate the depth of their leadership by being inclusive.
They should not succumb to the temptation to paint our towns in their own party colours and slogans.
Today we have an opportunity to advance unity and reflect our diversity.
That is why we call on our leaders to exercise caution before deciding to change names and look carefully at the kind of a society we are building.
The beauty of this country and its people of different shades is its history.
If we look deeply into who we are as a nation, the renaming of our towns, streets and schools gives us an opportunity to truly embrace the future.
We should begin to look beyond individuals and look at names that will endure beyond the current state of party politics.
History is always contested and its our duty to find a middle ground that does not box us into a corner.
It would be a tragedy if one day our children had to start all over again and rename our institutions.
We hope that party politics will not take centre stage in the renaming of Gauteng's schools.
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