List of renamed places in South Africa
Since 1994, many places in South Africa which have been renamed for political, ethnic or even economic reasons. These name changes were initially intended to remove politically motivated, incorrectly spelt or offensive names from the South African landscape. Many places are now named after anti-apartheid activists. The following article covers the name changes in South Africa by province since the first multi-racial elections in 1994.
A number of places in South Africa had been renamed before 1994. These name changes were much rarer.
Eastern Cape
As of March 2014, the Eastern Cape has changed the name of 134 places, placing it third nationally after Mpumalanga and the Limpopo provinces. Most name changes have been correcting misspellings in the former homelands of Transkei and Ciskei. There have also been a number of name change proposals in the western half of the province for place names of Afrikaans or English origin.Settlements
- Bisho → Bhisho
- Cala → Kala
- Engcobo → Ngcobo
- Idutywa → Dutywa
- Umtata → Mthatha
- Queenstown → Komani
- Grahamstown → Makhanda
Airports
- Ben Schoeman Airport → East London Airport
- K. D. Matanzima Airport → Mthatha Airport
Free State
The province recently renamed its only international airport in Bloemfontein after anti-apartheid activist Bram Fischer. The airport's name had to be changed twice after the first renaming forgot to add international to the name.
Gauteng
Gauteng, South Africa's most urbanised province, has seen a number of name changes. Probably the most controversial name change in South African history has been that of Pretoria, where there have been proposals to change the city's name to Tshwane.Settlements
- Verwoerdburg → Centurion
- *The first name change in post-1994 South Africa. Verwoerdburg was named after Hendrik Verwoerd, the so-called "architect of Apartheid" and was deemed offensive to many people and was changed to the neutral name of Centurion.
- Sophiatown → Triomf → Sophiatown
- *In 2006 the suburb of Triomf had its name restored to Sophiatown. Before 1954 the area was mostly occupied by blacks but were forcibly moved due to it being near local white suburbs. The area was rezoned as Triomf with the former name restored 52 years later.
Streets
Johannesburg
- In 2001 The Johannesburg City Administration changed the name of DF Malan Drive to Beyers Naudé Drive. Also it changed the name of the Library Gardens to Beyers Naudé Square in order to commemorate Beyers Naudé.
- Henrik Verwoerd Drive → Bram Fischer Drive
- Hans Strijdom road → Malibongwe Drive
- Sauer Street → Pixley ka Isaka Seme Street
- Bree Street → Lillian Ngoyi Street
- Jeppe Street → Rahima Moosa Street
- Presidents Street → Helen Joseph Street
- Noord Street → Sophie de Bruyn Street
Pretoria
- Walker-/Charles Street → Justice Mahomed Street
- Proes Street → Johannes Ramokhoase Street
- Duncan Street → Jan Shoba Street
- Genl. Louis Botha Drive → January Masilela Drive
- Esselen Street → Robert Sobukwe Street
- Vermeulen Street → Madiba Street
- Schubart Street→ Sophie de Bruyn Street
- Potgieter Street → Kgosi Mampuru Street
- Prinsloo Street → Sisulu Street
- Skinner Street → Nana Sita Street
- Jacob Maré Street → Jeff Masemola Street
- Queen Wilhelmina Street → Florence Ribeiro Avenue
- Van der Walt Street → Lillian Ngoyi Street
- Andries Street → Thabo Sehume Street
- DF Malan Drive → Eskia Mphahlele Drive
- Hans Strijdom Drive → Drive
- Mitchell Street → Charlotte Maxeke Street
- Schoeman Street → Francis Baard Street
- Zambezi Drive → Sefako Makgatho Drive
- Hendrik Verwoerd Drive → Johan Heyns Drive
- Beatrix/Mears/Voortrekker Street → Steve Biko Street
- Church Street from Nelson Mandela Drive to the east → Stanza Bopape Street
- Church Street from Nelson Mandela Drive to Church Square → Helen Joseph Street
- Church Street from Church Square to the R511 → WF Nkomo Street
- Church Street from the R511 to the west → Elias Motswaledi Street
- Michael Brink Street → Nico Smith Street
- Leah Mangope Street → Peter Magano Street
- Lucas Mangope Street → Molefe Makinta Street
Airports
- Jan Smuts International Airport → Johannesburg International Airport → O. R. Tambo International Airport
KwaZulu-Natal
Settlements
- Stanger → KwaDukuza
- *KwaDukuza was the historic capital of the Zulu but was burnt to the ground in 1828. In 1873 European settlers founded the town Stanger on the site. The town is still commonly and also sometimes officially referred to as Stanger despite being renamed to KwaDukuza in 2006.
Dams
- Chelmsford Dam → Ntshingwayo Dam
Airport
Limpopo
The most northerly province of South Africa, the Limpopo province saw some of the earliest name changes and to date more than any other province. The province was carved out of the former Transvaal and initially named the Northern-Transvaal until the following year when it was known simply as the Northern Province. It kept this name until 2002 when it was renamed after the Limpopo River which forms South Africa's border with Zimbabwe. Settlement name changes especially targeted places of Afrikaans origin, such as Pietersburg, Nylstroom and Ellisras, while avoiding places with Bantu or English names such as Northam, Alldays, Tzaneen and Thabazimbi. The Limpopo is the most ethnically black province in South Africa and is likely to have made the name changes go smoother because of a lack of opposition from minority groups which are usually against name changes.Settlements
- Warmbaths → Bela-Bela
- Ellisras → Lephalale
- Louis Trichardt → Makhado → Louis Trichardt
- *The town was renamed Makhado in 2003, but was later in 2007 reverted to the original name of Louis Trichardt.
- Nylstroom → Modimolle
- Duiwelskloof → Modjadjiskloof
- *Unlike most name changes, Duiwelskloof kept the Afrikaans suffix "-kloof" in its new name. The name "Ngoako Ramalepe" was also proposed.
- Dendron → Mogwadi
- Potgietersrus → Mokopane
- Naboomspruit → Mookgophong
- *The new name has sometimes been incorrectly spelled "Mookgopong".
- Soekmekaar → Morebeng
- *Morebeng has also been spelt "'Morbeng"
- Messina → Musina
- Pietersburg → Polokwane
- *Polokwane was at first sometimes misspelled as "Pholokwane".
- Bochum → Senwabarwana
- Vaalwater → Mabatlane → Vaalwater
Mpumalanga
Settlements
- Lydenburg → Mashishing
- Witbank → eMalahleni
- Belfast → eMakhazeni
- Machadodorp → eNtokozweni
- Nelspruit → Mbombela
- Waterval Boven → Emgwenya
- Piet Retief → eMkhondo
- Hectorspruit → Emjejane
North West
Settlements
- Mafeking → Mafikeng → Mahikeng
- *British settlers first spelt the town as Mafeking but was renamed Mafikeng in 1980 upon incorporation into the bantustan Bophuthatswana. In February 2010 the town was again renamed to Mahikeng. Residents still refer to the town as Mafikeng both informally and formally.
Northern Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape has experienced only a few minor street name changes in the largest cities. There have, however, been a number of suggested name changes, particularly on the southern coast of the province, such as for the towns of George or Mossel Bay.Streets
Four street names have already been changed: Oswald Pirow Street was changed to Christiaan Barnard Street, Eastern Boulevard took Nelson Mandela's name, while the concourse between the Artscape Theatre Centre and the Civic Centre was renamed after Albert Luthuli. The pedestrian section of Castle Street is to be renamed after Khoisan leader Krotoa. Table Bay Boulevard was renamed FW de Klerk Boulevard.An additional change – Western Boulevard to Helen Suzman Boulevard – was introduced by special council resolution.