Cape Town – The official unveiling ceremony of Winnie Mandela Town has been postponed for the second time, a report said on Saturday, as residents demanded service delivery.
According to SABC, the Free State government confirmed the delay of the event, which had been scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 26.
“The unveiling of mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Town in what we used to call Brandfort has been postponed. A further date will be provided. It is on the basis that everything else is in order so that we honour our fallen icon in a true manner,” the report quoted Free State premier’s spokesperson Sello Pietersen as saying.
ALSO READ | Soweto, the President and the ANC’s ’empty promises’
Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa approved the name change, which was gazetted in August, as one of the ways to homour the struggle icon’s legacy.
Brandfort is where the late struggle icon was banished by the apartheid government in 1977.
But the move has left political parties and some residents hot under the collar.
Some residents said resources should rather be diverted to service delivery.
A road sign depicting the name Winnie Mandela was defaced by angry residents on Friday.
Watch the Video below (Courtesy SABC)
)
According to News24, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said it had lodged a petition soon after the approval last month, saying the process was flawed.
“The issue here is not that a town is renamed nor the suggested name. The only issue is public participation. Is this really what the community wants? We need to see where and when the community was informed. We cannot have people from outside deciding on something so important as a name change,” the report quoted DA’s ward councillor at the Masilonyana local municipality, Marieta Visser as saying.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: Getty Images
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Betha Madhomu
