City of Johannesburg spent R250k to change William Nicol Drive to Winnie Mandela Drive

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that City of Johannesburg spent R250k to change William Nicol Drive to Winnie Mandela Drive..

“You can’t put monetary value to the pain of South Africans. You can’t put a price on reconciliation. Reconciliation was not fully done; it is not a one-way street. 

“For us to be able to deal with the pain of apartheid, we must remove all the names of apartheid architects and those who implemented it, those who murdered our people, and those who [caused] us so much pain and trauma,” he said. 

Democratic Alliance (DA) Johannesburg caucus leader, Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku, said taxpayers’ money would be better spent on fixing roads and potholes rather than renaming them.

However, the African National Congress (ANC) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Johannesburg said it was important for social cohesion that monuments named after apartheid collaborators were renamed.

Meanwhile, Johannesburg City Manager Floyd Brink said since the motion to rename William Nicol Drive was passed in council back in 2018, the municipality had spent about R250,000 thus far.

The City of Johannesburg said it had spent about R250,000 on the renaming of William Nicol Drive to Winnie Mandela Drive.

This included the advertising of the new name change, the public participation process and the erection of the new street signs.

On Tuesday, the city held a renaming ceremony to officially rename the popular 4-kilometre stretch of road in Sandton. Kunene said it was not fair to have the city and the country’s key points named after apartheid oppressors such as Hendricks Verwoerd, Louis Botha, or Jan van Riebeeck, and others.

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According to Kunene, the removal of Paul Kruger’s name from the South African National Parks was on the cards. 

“We must change that when we get to Parliament. We are the only country in the world that celebrates our oppressors through the naming of streets, towns, and national key points. I am going to change that, starting in the City of Johannesburg,” he said.