‘Gqeberha means nothing’ – NMB mayor moves to scrap Port Elizabeth name change
Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Nqaba Bhanga wants the name ‘Gqeberha’ to be scrapped.
This comes less than a week after government announced the name change.
Last week, Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa approved new names for Port Elizabeth and the Port Elizabeth Airport.
Port Elizabeth was renamed Gqeberha, while the PE International Airport was unveiled as the Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport.
The name changes caused a stir across the country.
READ: Mthetwa approves new names for Port Elizabeth and PE Airport
Bhanga believes the name has no significance for the city’s people.
“The mayor believes that the process was not done correctly, first of all in not being consultative to the people of then Port Elizabeth, Gqeberha and he believes the name change was not inclusive enough. It’s been changed to a name that has no resonance with residents of Nelson Mandela of all walks of life,” says his spokesperson Morne Steyn.
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“The mayor has said himself that the name, in Xhosa, has no meaning. It’s simply a place name, it has no meaning which people can actually resonate with.”
