There has been considerable debate on whether Cape Town should rename a street after former President FW de Klerk. Many people of note have come out publicly in favour of the intended move. In fact, some African National Congress stalwarts have come out strongly in favour of renaming the street after the former President.

I am opposed to the proposal. I do not think that the street should be renamed after FW de Klerk. Now why do I say that? Quite simple: What was wrong with the original name of the street, which was Table Bay boulevard?

In fact, Table Bay Boulevard is a great name – it certainly indicates to people, worldwide, that the street is probably near Table Bay. That is good news for people trying to navigate around the city.

My point is that I am opposed to the renaming of any streets, unless it is absolutely necessary. If we had Adolf Hitler boulevard in the middle of Jerusalem, I could imagine that many folks would not be too pleased about it. They would want a name change.

What is necessary for a name change is that it must first be decided that the existing name is bad and needs to be removed. After the decision is confirmed to rename a street or any other place, then an attempt can be initiated to find a new, appropriate name. Street names are for navigation. They are there so that post arrives at your house or so that drivers can find their way around easily. So, street names should be names like Coastal road, Kalk Bay crescent, Pine Tree Parade, and so on. In other words, streets names that are features or that have other geographic identity are ideal. Some places can have a group of names which are similar – such as all names of trees, or all names related to the original farm on which the suburb now stands. So, if someone says, “I live in Willow Crescent”, the immediate reaction is: “Oh, over there, where all the streets have tree names?”

We must stop believing that streets should be a means to honour people. Many times, the resultant names are poor, difficult to remember, very long to write, and have other snags. Who is going to pay for all the companies or buildings which have ‘Table Bay boulevard’ written on their company letterhead paper, or worse, the building that has ‘Table Bay boulevard’ in brass cemented into the front wall?

Let me make another thing clear – I really believe that De Klerk deserves to be honoured. But the current renaming debate has become a fight between those for and against De Klerk. They have forgotten that it is a renaming issue – that the name Table Bay boulevard has been taken away.

In Durban, where I grew up, names have been removed and replaced, supposedly to erase the bad memories of the past. Street names which have been removed include Broadway, Ridge road, Point road, Northway, and so on. So, why was a name like Point road offensive, when it is the road that goes to ‘the point’, a well-known harbour landmark?

I am all in favour of honouring people, but this road renaming has become a disease. One can also change a name to honour someone without the object actually carrying the person’s name. For example, imagine building a new building in Cape Town and calling it Lion’s Head Building in honour of De Klerk. There could be a large brass plaque at the front stating: “This building is named in honour of former President FW de Klerk, who was a lion of a leader when he took the brave steps that he did while he was head of the country. He stood out above others, and his roar was heard around the world.”

As a result, the name Lion’s Head Building would be appropriate. Everybody would not need to call the building the FW de Klerk building to know that it was ‘his’ building. De Klerk is a great South African, a person whom we can all be proud of, but I think that he should refuse the name change of Table Bay boulevard and ask them to think of another plan.

Come on, Cape Town, be a bit more original – somebody there must be able to think out of the box.