One of South Africa’s well-known coastal towns may be renamed
Officials plan to rename a well-known seaside town, a farming town, and a river in the Eastern Cape.
The Eastern Cape Geographical Names Committee is pushing to replace colonial-era place names with indigenous ones, which could lead to name changes for three places in the province.
BusinessTech reports that a pre-planning meeting in Port Alfred last week drew over 250 stakeholders, marking the first step toward what could be a major change to the region’s map.
These changes aim to restore the original indigenous words altered during colonial times and reverse cultural erasure in the affected Eastern Cape towns.
Eastern Cape towns face a name change
The committee plans to rename the seaside town of Port Alfred, the farming town of Alexandria, as well as the Kowie River.
Under the current proposal, officials plan to rename Port Alfred to either iCawa or iCoyi, change the Kowie River to iQoyi, and rename Alexandria to either Nkosi Chungwa or eMnyameni.
Christian Martin, chairperson of the Eastern Cape Geographical Names Council, said the changes align with international guidelines for correcting colonial place names. He explained that “Kowie” is a colonial adaptation of a Khoi word, while “iQoyi” is its isiXhosa equivalent, adding that these names were never neutral.
The proposals have drawn opposition from residents, business owners, and tourism operators. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has also voiced strong objections, calling on Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie to block the application.
“Renaming Port Alfred, which is an international tourism hub, and Alexandria would deal a devastating blow to the tourism brand and economy of these towns,” the DA said, as per BusinessTech.
The consultation process is ongoing, with no final decision yet on whether the proposed names will be adopted.