William Nicol Drive has been renamed Winnie Mandela Drive.
Images via Twitter:
@newslivesa
William Nicol: City of Joburg ‘coming’ for more streets named after ‘oppressors’
This week the busy William Nicol Drive in the City of Johannesburg was officially changed to Winnie Mandela Drive.
William Nicol Drive has been renamed Winnie Mandela Drive.
Images via Twitter:
@newslivesa
City of Johannesburg MMC for Transport Kenny Kunene says the metro is coming for other streets named after apartheid oppressors this comes as William Nicol Drive was officially changed to struggle stalwart Winnie Mandela Drive.
In August the City of Johannesburg finally moved to pass a motion to implement a resolution made back in 2021. Notably, both the Economic Freedom Fighters and the African National Congress in the City credit themselves for the idea.
MORE STREETS NAMED AFTER APARTHEID OPRESSORS TO BE CHANGED
During the unveiling Kunene said the renaming of William Nicol Drive to Winnie Mandela Drive marks the beginning of removing the names of apartheid oppressors from South African streets.
“We are coming for Hendrik Verwoerd, all the names of our oppressors must be removed from the streets. We are the only country that allows itself to be traumatised by giving directions with the names of our former oppressors; killers of our mothers, brothers, sisters and our fathers,” Kunene said.
A number of streets and schools in South Africa are named after apartheid architects and others who played major roles in the oppression of natives in South Africa.
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WHO IS WILLIAM NICOL, AND WHY WAS THE ROAD NAMED AFTER HIM?
He was born in Robertson, Western Cape (known as Cape Colony at the time under British rule) and was brought up in a strongly religious family. He was the chairperson for the Afrikaner Broederband, a male-only organisation that sought to preserve their heritage. Nicol became the governor of Transvaal in 1948, serving 10 years in the position.
The minister was a strong opponent of apartheid’s Bantu Education programme. He was a staunch believer in teaching all South Africans in their mother tongue, with English being treated as a second language so everyone could communicate. The road in Johannesburg was named after him, because he oversaw most of its development.
