Graaff-Reinet will always be Graaff-Reinet – and not Robert Sobukwe Town – to the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus). The party, therefore, calls on the people of Graaff-Reinet, the broader Eastern Cape and the rest of South Africa to ignore the name change.
This geographical name change along with 20 others – such as East London to KuGompo City – was recently published in the Government Gazette by the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie.
This not only proves that limited public funds are being spent on misguided priorities, but it is also a blatant example of cultural imperialism in which Afrikaner cultural history is annihilated under the pretext of so-called social cohesion.
It has become customary to expect Afrikaners, and only Afrikaners, to sacrifice their heritage on the altar to appease the rest. We refuse to keep doing it.
So, the Freedom Front Plus implores everyone who values the name Graaff-Reinet to remain loyal to the name, which is inextricably part of everyone in the country’s shared heritage and national identity.
More than thirty years have passed since the beginning of the new political dispensation and yet there is still this needless meddling – such as changing names – which benefits no-one.
These steps create division and waste taxpayers’ money, while urgent problems such as job creation, infrastructure and safety are ignored.
The Freedom Front Plus rejects Graaff-Reinet’s name change and will rectify it at the first opportunity that arises.
The name Graaff-Reinet dates to 1786 and honours Cornelis Jacob van de Graaff, a Dutch governor of the Cape Colony under the VOC, and his wife, Cornelia Reynet. In 1795, citizens rid themselves of VOC taxes and established the short-lived Republic of Graaff-Reinet. Much later, in the 1830s, Graaff-Reinet was also the point of departure for the Great Trek.
Afrikaners, and previous dispensations, did not change the name seeing as it forms part of South Africa’s colourful and multifaceted history.
No-one benefits from erasing parts of history that some people may not like. It merely results in a narrowed and distorted image of everyone’s heritage while unnecessarily sowing division.
Freedom Front Plus Name Change: The party changed its name to Freedom Front Plus in 2003.
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