List of renamed places in South Africa

Since 1994, numerous locations inSouth Africahave been renamed. The following article covers the name changes in South Africa by province since the1994 South African general election. National place names, such as towns, suburbs, and natural landforms, are decided by theSouth African Geographical Names Council(SAGNC), and provinces have their own geographical names committees.Among the South African public, there is broad agreement that locations which are named after British or Afrikaner military personnel who fought against Black South Africans or contain racial slurs should be renamed, but efforts since 2005 to replace inoffensive names, such asLydenburg(whichAfrican National Congresspoliticians claimed are necessary to "address the legacy of colonialism and apartheid") have faced opposition on the grounds of excessive costs and perceived bias in favour of honouring ANC members.Although many name changes have taken place officially since the end ofapartheidin 1994, many of the previous names are still common in use, and some name changes have been officially reverted.
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As of March 2014, the Eastern Cape has changed the name of 134 places, placing it third nationally after Mpumalanga and the Limpopo provinces.Most name changes have been correcting misspellings in the former homelands ofTranskeiandCiskei(see below). There have also been a number of name change proposals in the western half of the province for place names of Afrikaans or English origin.
The province renamedthe only international airportinBloemfonteinafterBram Fischer, a political activist of theSouth African Communist Party, in 2012.
Gauteng, South Africa's most urbanised province, has seen a number of name changes. Probably the most controversial name change in South African history has been that ofPretoria, where there have been proposals to change the city's name toTshwane(already the name of the metropolitan area it lies in).
In 2007 the Johannesburg Development Agency changed two street names named after apartheid era ministers:
In 2013, every street of theR24 routein theJohannesburgandEkurhulenimunicipalities specifically was renamed afterAlbertina Sisulu.Every street on this section of the R24 is now named Albertina Sisulu Road (with the exception of the westwards one-way street in Johannesburg CBD).
In 2014 the city administration continued the renaming of important streets in the city in order to "celebrate the city's shared past".
On 26 September 2022, William Nicol Drive (which forms the entireM81 routeand part of theR511 route) was renamed to Winnie Mandela Drive.
In early 2012, 27 streets in central Pretoria had their name changed to reflect a "shared history" of the city.The streets renamed were;
Pretoria's new street namesall have background history to who these people are.
The KwaZulu-Natal province was formed in 1994 from the merger of the then province ofNataland former bantustan ofKwaZulu. The process in Durban has been criticized theDemocratic Alliance,Inkatha Freedom Partyand theMinority Front, who have expressed concerns that the process lacks participation from non-ANC parties and presents a partisan view of the anti-apartheid struggle.
The most northerly province of South Africa, the Limpopo province saw some of the earliest name changes and to date more than any other province. The province was carved out of the formerTransvaaland initially named theNorthern Transvaaluntil the following year when it was known simply as theNorthern Province. It kept this name until 2002when it was renamed after theLimpopo Riverwhich forms South Africa's border withZimbabwe. Settlement name changes especially targeted places of Afrikaans origin, such as Pietersburg (Polokwane), Nylstroom (Modimolle) and Ellisras (Lephalale), while avoiding places with Bantu or English names such asNortham,Alldays,TzaneenandThabazimbi. The Limpopo is the most ethnically black province in South Africa (96.7% as of 2011) and is likely to have made the name changes go more smoothly because of a lack of opposition from minority groups which are usually against name changes.
Mpumalanga, itself renamed in 1995 from theEastern Transvaal, has seen the entire northern half of the province renamed since 2005. As with the Limpopo province, most of the changes have affected names of Afrikaans origin, but also some with British links. These have included the capital, Nelspruit (Mbombela) as well as Witbank (eMalahleni) and Lydenburg (Mashishing). Unlike the Limpopo, the name changes in Mpumalanga have largely (as of 2011) been ignored and apart from the city of Witbank, road signs and usage of the new names has been rare.Some names of Bantu origin have also been changed, because they were misspelled by early settlers, due to errors in transcription, such as Malelane, which was corrected toMalalane.
In May 2013 North West province premierThandi Modisesaid the province needed to be renamed and not just be referred to as a "direction on a compass".One of the suggestions has been to rename North West after politician and activistMoses Kotane. There is, however,already a municipalityin the province named after him.
In the Northern Cape, only six roads were renamed between 1994 and 2010, the fewest name changes in any province.
The following street inUpingtonwas renamed:
With the exception of Cape Town, the Western Cape has experienced only a few minor street name changes in the largest cities. There have, however, been a number of suggested name changes, particularly on the southern coast of the province, such as for the towns ofGeorgeorMossel Bay. TheEconomic Freedom Fightershave sought to expand the number of locations renamed within the Western Cape, stating that "Black South Africans are reminded of the oppression every day by names and statues that cannot be changed or removed".
The names of the following streets inCape Townhave been changed: