well, why not? i figured, since our government [or has it now become the government's government and not ours anymore?] is on this (re)naming spree, why not i rename myself as well? just for the fun of it. i mean, if i rename myself, i will not go through daunting procedures to bring the rest of my life into speed with its master's new igama. it will take only a couple of visits to the police station to get an affidavit. a couple more to the home affairs department to get a new ID book and a passport. and then another handful of visits to the traffic department for my drivers licence to catch up with my new identity. then i will need to update my policies, bank details, etc. with my spanky new name. hopefully in about half a year i will be a totally new me.
now tell me this: six* months just to fix my things as an individual; how long will it take to work through the logistics of changing a name of something as monolithic as, say, an airport? or perhaps a town? a province? bloody hell, a whole country? i'm cool having to drive down to KZN. however, it might be a different story all together if in the future i drive down to KwaZulu? maybe catch a plane from OR Tambo International to Rolihlahla International down in Cape Town? or will it be then known as just eKapa?
_the_ government should just take the money and channel it to needing sectors like our education system, health system, transport system and others, instead of tangling themselves with financial burdens of trying to correct 'the imbalances of the past.' isn't the lack of education in this country more of an imbalance of the past than the name 'Johannesburg International Airport?' there is nothing wrong with honouring the champions of the Struggle, in fact i support it. but i feel that somewhere somehow, a line should be drawn.
now tell me this: six* months just to fix my things as an individual; how long will it take to work through the logistics of changing a name of something as monolithic as, say, an airport? or perhaps a town? a province? bloody hell, a whole country? i'm cool having to drive down to KZN. however, it might be a different story all together if in the future i drive down to KwaZulu? maybe catch a plane from OR Tambo International to Rolihlahla International down in Cape Town? or will it be then known as just eKapa?
_the_ government should just take the money and channel it to needing sectors like our education system, health system, transport system and others, instead of tangling themselves with financial burdens of trying to correct 'the imbalances of the past.' isn't the lack of education in this country more of an imbalance of the past than the name 'Johannesburg International Airport?' there is nothing wrong with honouring the champions of the Struggle, in fact i support it. but i feel that somewhere somehow, a line should be drawn.
-S.
* probably too over-estimated, but better that than under-estimating.
2 comments:
6 months is probably an underestimate I think. The whole renaming saga - it's fine if you are renaming something offensive to something more aceptable - but renaming Jo'burg international again is going too far.
my real concern in the name of 'Perfecting the imbalances' is that the government and the people of South Africa as whole should be carefully of not tipping the 'scale' from one end all the way to the other end missing the 'balanced' point. It's back to your point ciaa - knowing when to draw the line - and Al's point avoiding making senseless name changes.
Nicely put argument boet!
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