Thousands have rejected the recent proposal by the African National Congress (ANC) in Johannesburg to rename Sandton Drive to Leila Khaled Drive.
This is according to the Democratic Alliance (DA) which says it has collected 4,169 objections and 285 in support of the proposed renaming and is planning to submit these to the City of Johannesburg. The public has until 18 October to comment on the proposal.
SHOULD SANDTON DRIVE BE RENAMED TO LEILA KHALED DRIVE?
The South African previously reported that Sandton Drive renaming to Leila Khaled Drive was first proposed in 2018. The move was posited on a memorandum of co-operation with the Palestinian city of Ramallah. Moreover, it was hailed as an expression of the city’s commitment to diplomatic relations with the people of Palestine. Johannesburg donated a statue of Nelson Mandela to Ramallah back in 2016.
Leila Khaled is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an internationally designated terrorist organisation. She is known as the poster girl of Palestinian militancy for her role in hijacking TWA flight 840 from Rome to Tel Aviv in 1969, as well as many other terrorist activities, according to The Jewish Report.
‘RESIDENTS DECRY POOR SERVICE DELIVERY’
The DA said the proposal can only be seen as a blatant act of political grandstanding, reflecting a disconnect between the city government and the needs of its citizens.
The party said it believes that policy changes and effective governance should take precedence over superficial renaming ceremonies.
DA constituency head in Sandton Leah Potgieter said Sandton residents, and Joburg at large, have long expressed extreme frustration over ongoing issues such as severe water shortages, unrehabilitated roads, persistent power outages, and unreliable waste management, to name but a few failures by the current administration.
Potgieter said while these essential services remain unaddressed, the ANC run government has chosen to focus on symbolic gestures that do little to improve the day-to-day lives of the people they are meant to serve.
“Our commitment is to implement policies that prioritise infrastructure investment, enhance service delivery, and ensure accountability. We encourage the City of Johannesburg Council to shelve this renaming proposal and prioritise pressing service delivery issues that affect the residents of Sandton and the City of Joburg as a whole. We can survive without a new street name, we cannot survive without basic services such as water and electricity,” Potgieter said.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE PROPOSED RENAMING OF SANDTON DRIVE TO LEILA KHALED DRIVE?
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