London: South Africa`s Cape Town city has finally decided to name a street after Nelson Mandela whose election as president marked a historical victory of the anti-apartheid movement in the country 16 years ago, a daily reported here.
The city is about to become one of the last in the world to name a street after the former South African president, who served 27 years in jail before being released in 1990. Most major cities in the world, including Indian capital New Delhi, have already honoured Mandela.
Yet, the home of South African parliament will not give the 92-year-old leader of the African National Congress (ANC) a grand city-centre thoroughfare, the British daily said.
Nelson Mandela Boulevard will simply replace Eastern Boulevard, a fast three-lane carriageway that descends into the city just after the junction of Settlers` Way and (Cecil) Rhodes Drive.
"It has been a protracted business," said Owen Kinahan, who has sat on a series of failed street-naming committees since he joined the city council in 1996. "But we make no apology. Ours is a deeply scarred society and it is important that the process be conciliatory rather than divisive."
Cape Town`s tardiness is in part because of the fact that it is governed by the opposition Democratic Alliance and its main constituency is not black but "coloured" descendants of slaves and the indigenous Khoisan.
Whites with financial muscle have a disproportionate say in the running of the city.
Local politicians have also run scared ever since Democratic Alliance mayor Peter Marais lost his job for announcing in 2001, without public consultation, that the city-centre streets of Wale and Adderley would be given the names of Frederik Willem de Klerk and Mandela in recognition of their joint 1993 Nobel peace prize.
But 20 years of dithering and bad decisions have not only left the city without a Mandela Boulevard.
Its poor black areas carry street names such as NY112 - generally believed to stand for Native Yard.
Kinahan, a Democratic Alliance politician, denies this. "They are the first two letters of Nyanga, one of the early townships," he claims.
Removing the NYs is not on the current agenda and, even though it is prominently located, the new Nelson Mandela Boulevard is shorter than a much-used suburban rat run, Hendrik Verwoerd Drive, named after an apartheid prime minister.
Mandela`s name heads a list of 30 prominent people after whom streets are to be named, one of whom is heart-transplant pioneer Christiaan Barnard.
The ANC founding president, Albert Luthuli, and 17th-century leader Krotoa - the first indigenous Khoisan woman to marry a Dutch settler - will each be given a promenade and a square.
"They will be honoured in city-centre places which currently have no name, offering us the opportunity to landscape them in a way that will be educational," said Kinahan.
He denied that Cape Town was tip-toeing over the issue: "Cape Town`s history did not start in 1994 (the first democratic elections) or 1948 (the beginning of apartheid). It started with the indigenous population, then slavery. We will not adopt a shotgun approach like the ANC has done in the rest of the country."
IANS
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.