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Robert Sobukwe
The changing of geographical names of places and towns continues to evoke strong emotions around South Africa. Just this week, 21 name changes and name registrations from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal were approved, following recommendations from the South African Geographical Names Council.
The changes are still to be gazetted and the new names haven’t been revealed officially.
The historic town of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape is due to carry a new name, as part of this round of changes. It’s not official yet, but it will become Robert Sobukwe Town, in honour of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) founder, who was born in Graaff Reinet.
Opinion on the impending change is split.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHgHabmv3kM
Graaff-Reinet, established in 1786, is considered the fourth-oldest town in South Africa. It was named after then Cape Governor, Cornelis Jacob van de Graaff, and his wife, Reinet.
The proposed new name honours Robert Sobukwe a prominent anti-apartheid activist and founding member of the PAC.
The Eastern Cape Geographical Names Committee’s Christian Martin says the renaming process followed the required procedures, including public participation.
“Once, people propose through an application. They fall in. What we do is we go to the people in a public participation, which means we must go inform the people about someone that have applied through an application form to change the name. So, then we call the stakeholders together of that particular area, in inform them to go inform their constituency. After they informed their constituency, we have a meeting with a broader community or municipality that are affected by that name change if we have done that, then we come together, we do research of the name proposed, we do research of the name existing. and then we see if it’s a derogative name, if it’s wrongly spelled, if there’s historic context, connotation on it, is it indigenous name,” says Martin.
Some local residents have voiced strong opposition to renaming Graaff Reinet, arguing that the town’s historical identity and heritage should be preserved. Others say the change represents an important step in reflecting a more inclusive and representative national history.
“I went to all the meetings, and every meeting in the hall of our town and our other towns, where they also are intending to change the names. No group was in favour of the name change, except in Masasaki, where there was as badly attended meeting and the people were mostly PAC, where they wanted the name to be changed to Robert Sobukwe,” says one resident.
Another one adds, “I had heartedly welcome it because this this is something that we wanted. You could notice from the public hearings that we held here in the past. The black community in particular was in favour of the name change. It is your coloured and so-called whites that were not in favour of the name change. I think we are delighted, especially with the black community, that krafrinat now, or is named after one of our own, the son of refined, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe. So, the changed the kind of change that it is going to come up with is that people will start to identify with the name.”
WATCH | Historian Dr Mpumeleli Ngidi supports King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s proposal to rename the province from KwaZulu-Natal to KwaZulu, stating that the change would not erase history. pic.twitter.com/1PNeuD1iNy
— SABC News (@SABCNews) January 31, 2026
VIDEO | Proposal to rename KwaZulu-Natal: Professor Sihawukele Ngubane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpionC7A8Wc
Meanwhile, Sobukwe’s grandson, Adoko Sobukwe-Whyte, welcomes the proposed name change, saying it recognises the legacy and contribution of Robert Sobukwe to South Africa’s freedom struggle.
“We look forward to that process, and we hold high hopes of, you know, the confirmation of everything. And it has been an honour, you know, to finally have recognised and, you know, the name changed, you know, to bring him into the light again, you know, because he has been silenced, you know, not only by the previous, you know, rulers, but our current ones as well,” says Sobukwe-Whyte.
The 21-new name changes are still to be gazetted and will only be revealed then. Once gazetted it will also be subjected to public comment before the name changes are legally effected.
