Capetonians voice support for Zonnebloem renaming back to District Six

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Cape Town - Residents of Cape Town have come out in support of the call to officially change the name of Zonnebloem back to District Six. Bonita Bennett, director of the District Six Museum, said: “We received overwhelming support from Capetonians over the past few days and I am amazed because my initial thought was that people would say this is just another campaign, but they fully supported us.” Bennett said the online petition the Museum created last week had received more than 800 signatures so far. “This is mostly because this is something that affects everyone and is entwined with culture and identity,” she said. Bennett said the museum had been inundated with emails supporting the renaming.

The DA in the Western Cape also came out in support of the renaming.

Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Cultural Affairs and Sport, Reagen Allen, said: “The restoration of the District Six name plays a crucial role in commemorating and reinstating cultural identities native to suburbs in the Cape Town City Bowl, and reconstituting the pre-apartheid racial and cultural diversity of the region.”

The City’s media manager, Luthando Tyhalibongo, said it was important to note that all proposals for name changes or new names for suburbs, streets and reserves must be supported by a motivation and submitted to the City for consideration.

He said no name change could take place without a public participation process and approval by full council. It was impossible to say how long any renaming process would take because it would depend on due process being followed.

These are the things we need to put our energy into https://t.co/KXhRCJIAhf — IamHASKIN (@IamHaskin) June 6, 2019

I am not mad at the idea https://t.co/ILULLNkC0x — Zimasile Mjokozeli (@Zimasile_) June 6, 2019

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