'I'm not from Gqeberha': Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Nqaba Bhanga digs in his heels about PE name change

Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Nqaba Bhanga is adamant about opposing the renaming of Port Elizabeth to Gqeberha, refusing to acknowledge the name.

On Thursday, Bhanga made his feelings about the move clear when he refused to be introduced as “the mayor from Gqeberha” on Cape Talk.

“I’m not joining you from Gqeberha, I’m joining you from Port Elizabeth ... the name has not been officially changed,” said Bhanga.

Bhanga said the reason for opposing the name change was because it was not an isiXhosa name.

“If you want to talk about restoration, you can't say you are restoring the language of Xhosa using Gqeberha because it has no meaning,” he said.

“If it’s a Khoi name, it must be written in Khoi, and in this case, it’s not written in Khoi and therefore it's not restoration but distortion. This is an insult to both Khoi and Xhosa.”

He said the name does not reflect the city's diversity and wanted something that represents all of its residents.

The renaming of Port Elizabeth was announced by sport, arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa in February.

The name changes also saw neighbouring town Uitenhage being changed to Kariega, while King William’s Town was changed to Qonce. The East London Airport was changed to King Phalo Airport.

The changes have been published in the government gazette. They also include a number of spelling corrections for existing geographical names.

In a statement issued by the Bay, Bhanga said he was not opposed to name changes, saying for any name change to make sense it should adhere to certain requirements.

“The name should be easily remembered and recognisable, there should be a significant historical link with the city or town affected, and be correctly used in the context of the language it proposes to be written in,” said Bhanga.

“I believe the processes followed by the minister and the ANC government to arrive at the names Gqeberha and Kariega to be fatally flawed and devoid of inclusivity. It is imperative that the processes followed in this regard be inclusive and reflect our constitutional commitment to reconciliation,” he added.

The DA also strongly opposed the name changes, saying they were nothing more than a political ploy by the ANC government to garner votes in an election year.

DA MP Veronica van Dyk said the party was seeking to interrogate whether the public, especially those residents living in the towns and cities, were given an adequate and reasonable time to make their voices heard on the name changes.

“Given the public outcry after minister Mthethwa gazetted the changes, it would seem as though government was simply engaging in a box-ticking exercise under the guise of 'transformation' and ultimately ignored the voices opposed to the name changes,” she said.