Cape Town’s latest renaming effort goes south

Has Cape Town finally run out of ideas for people to name things after? Judging by a report to Tuesday’s city council naming committee‚ the answer is yes.

It says attempts to rename four “service delivery areas” — north‚ central‚ south and east — have failed due to lack of interest.

In March‚ the committee called for public meetings throughout the city to discuss ideas‚ but officials decided not to go ahead because of the danger of “public participation fatigue” following 22 meetings about the annual budget.

In June‚ the Cape Town Heritage Trust and the Association of Professional Heritage Practitioners was asked for ideas‚ but the response was “poor and a disappointment‚ with many not responding and others stating that the current geographical‚ directional designations ... are more practical”.

Now the council plans to ask for ideas on social media.