List of renamed places in South Africa
Since 1994, many places in South Africa have been renamed. The following article covers the name changes in South Africa by province since the first democratic elections in 1994. National place names, such as towns, suburbs, and natural landforms, are decided by the South African Geographical Names Council, and provinces have their own geographical names committees. Name changes that remove racial slurs such as the renaming of "Kaffirskraal" have broad support, as do changes that remove the names of British or Boer soldiers who committed atrocities against the black majority, but efforts since  2005 to replace names that are seen by some as inoffensive such as Lydenburg, which officials from the African National Congress argue are necessary to address the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, have faced opposition from some white South Africans. There has also been criticism from some non-white South Africans, who accuse the government of ignoring anti-apartheid leaders who were not members of the ANC, while others have criticized the cost of the process. Eastern Cape. 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 of Transkei and Ciskei (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. Free State. The province recently renamed the only international airport in Bloemfontein after anti-apartheid activist Bram Fischer. Gauteng. 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 of Pretoria, where there have been proposals to change the  city's name to Tshwane (already the name of the metropolitan area it lies in). Streets. Johannesburg. In 2007 the Johannesburg Development Agency changed two street names named after apartheid era ministers: In 2013, every street of the R24 route in the Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni municipalities specifically was renamed after Albertina Sisulu. Every street on this section of the R24 is now named Albertina Sisulu Road. In 2014 the city administration continued the renaming of important streets in the city in order to "celebrate the city's shared past". Pretoria. 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 names all have background history to who these people are. KwaZulu-Natal. The KwaZulu-Natal province was formed in 1994 from the merger of the then province of Natal and former bantustan of KwaZulu. The process in Durban has been criticized the Democratic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party and the Minority Front, who have expressed concerns that the process lacks participation from non-ANC parties and presents a partisan view of the anti-apartheid struggle. Limpopo. 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 former Transvaal and initially named the Northern Transvaal until the following year when it was known simply as the Northern Province. It kept this name until 2002 when it was renamed after the Limpopo River which forms South Africa's border with Zimbabwe. 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 as Northam, Alldays, Tzaneen and  Thabazimbi. 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. Mpumalanga, itself renamed in 1995 from the Eastern 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 to Malalane. North West. In May 2013 North West province premier Thandi Modise said 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 activist Moses Kotane. There is, however, already a municipality in the province named after him. Northern Cape. In the Northern Cape, only six roads were renamed between 1994 and 2010, the fewest name changes in any province. Streets. The following street in Upington was renamed: Western Cape. 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 of George  or Mossel Bay. The Economic Freedom Fighters have 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". Streets. The names of the following streets in Cape Town have been changed: