This was a descriptive and qualitative case study that investigated the processes involving citizen participation in the course of the attempts to replace the name Louis Trichardt with the name Makhado. I conducted qualitative and descriptive investigation based on data from literature. The data were collated from the literature, i.e. articles, policies, government legislations, municipal- reports, attendance registers and reports. The data were collected and captured in excel and analyzed with results shown in tables and figures. In terms of results the study has found that Makhado municipality has widely invited the participation of residents through various platforms. It further revealed that only 6.7% participated in the renaming process. It was also found that 51% of residents participated in ward 20 while 49% participated in ward 21. Finally, the study concluded by revealing that the majority of the residents did not participate in the consultation process. In conclusion, the study revealed that the majority of the people failed to participate in the renaming process to change the name Louis Trichardt to Makhado. Low participation by residents rendered the proposed name illegitimate. While wards 20 and 21 are predominantly comprised of whites, only a few come out to participate. Low participation by whites suggests that they still want to defend racial identity because the name Louis Trichardt is that of an historical Afrikaans leader. Whites launch court challenges against the new names to protect white names. The study recommends 1) use of the names of people must be prohibited; 2) double-barrel renaming must be encouraged so as to incorporate old names with new names and 3) procedures for name-changing need to be widely publicized so as to ensure that the public is properly informed.
References
[1]
Vigoda, E. (2002) From Responsiveness to Collaboration: Governance, Citizens, and the Next Generation of Public Administration. Public Administration Review, 62, 527-540. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1540-6210.00235
[2]
United Nations (2002) World Summit on Sustainable Development. 24 August to 4 September, Johannesburg.
[3]
Webler, T. and Renn, O. (1995) A Brief Primer on Participation: Philosophy and Practice. In: Renn, O., Webler, T. and Wiedemann, P., Eds., Fairness and Competence in Citizen Participation: Evaluating Models for Environmental Discourse, Vol. 10, Kluver Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 17-33.
[4]
Roberts, N. (2004) Public Deliberation in an Age of Direct Citizen Participation. American Review of Public Administration, 34, 315-353.
[5]
Litva, A., Coast, J., Donovan, J., Eyles, J., Shepherd, M., Tacchi, J., Abelson, J. and Morgan, K.. (2002) The Public Is Too Subjective: Public Involvement at Different Levels of Health Care Decision Making. Social Science and Medicine, 54, 1825-1837. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(01)00151-4
[6]
Parry, G., Moysera, G. and Day, N. (1992) Political Participation and Democracy in Britain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511558726
[7]
Thornhill, C., Van Dijk, G. and Ille, I., Eds. (2014) Public Administration and Management in South Africa: A Developmental Perspective. Oxford University Press, Cape Town.
[8]
Ngcokovane, C. (1989) Demons of Apartheid: A Moral and Ethical analysis of the NGK, NP, and Broederbond’s Justification of Apartheid. Skotaville Publishers, Braamfontein.
[9]
King, C.S. and Stivers, C. (1988) Government Is Us: Public Administration in an Anti-Government Era. Sage Publications, London.
[10]
Republic of South Africa (1996) Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996). Government Printer, Pretoria.
[11]
Municipality, M. (2009) Submission of Reports on Name Change for Louis Trichardt Town to Makhado to Provincial Geographical Names Committee.
[12]
Thotse, M. (2010) Contesting Names and Statues: Battles over the Louis Trichardt/Makhado “City-Text” in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Kronos, 36, 173-183.
[13]
Brooks, S. (2009) Byzantium (ca. 330-1453). Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/byza/hd_byza.htm
[14]
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2015) Geographical Renaming.
[15]
Snodia, M., Tasara, M. and Nicholas, M. (2014) Deconstructing the Colonial Legacy through the Naming Process in Independent Zimbabwe. Journal of Studies in Social Sciences, 6, 71-85.
[16]
Chabata, E. (2007) The Role of Place-Names in the Making of a Zimbabwean Identity. Nytt om namn, 46, 13-17.
[17]
Chabata, E. (2012) Names and Identities: Feature Names and Identity in Zimbabwe. Oslo Studies in Language, 4, 45- 59. http://www.journals.ulo.no/osla
[18]
Snodia, M., Muguti, T. and Mutami, N. (2010) Political Dialoguing through the Naming Process: The Case of Colonial Zimbabwe (1890-1980). The Journal of Pan African Studies, 3, 16-30.
[19]
Mushati, A. (2013) Street Naming as Author(iz)ing the Collective Memory of the Nation: Masvingo’s Mucheke Suburb in Zimbabwe. International Journal of Asian Social Science, 3, 69-91.
http://www.aessweb.com/journal-detail.php?id=5005
[20]
Wa Thiongo, N. (1986) Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. Heinemann, Portsmouth.
[21]
Manatsha, B.T. (2014) The Politics of Renaming “Colonial” Streets in Francistown, Botswana. Historia, 59, 269-288.
[22]
Republic of Botswana (2012) The Local Government Act. The Government Printer, Gaborone.
[23]
Coombes, A.E. (2004) Visual Culture and Public Memory in a Democratic South Africa. Wits University Press, Johannesburg.
[24]
Guyot, S. and Seethal, C. (2007) Identity of Place, Places of Identities, Change of Place Names in Post-Apartheid South Africa. The South African Geographical Journal, 89, 55-63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03736245.2007.9713873
[25]
Jenkins, E. (1990) From Leliefontein to Megawatt Park: Some Trends in the Naming of South African Places. English Academy Review, 7, 60-67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10131759085310071
[26]
Ndletyana, M. (2012) Changing Place Names in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Social Dynamics: A Journal of African Studies, 38, 87-103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2012.698949
[27]
Sengani, T.M. (2011) Voice Interplay in the Makhado-Louis Trichardt Renaming Saga. Southern African Journal for Folklore Studies, 21, 175-185.
[28]
Republic of South Africa (1998) South African Geographical Names Council (Act 118 of 1998). Government Gazette.
[29]
Rodney, W. (1972) How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. East African Educational Publishers, Dar es Salaam.
[30]
Ncube, B., Dhlamini, N. and Moyo, T. (2013) The Philosophy of Naming among the Ndebele of Zimbabwe. A Study of Children’s Names Born between 1970-1982. International Journal of Asian Social Science, 3, 1725-1731.
[31]
Vhembe Herald, 18 April 2007, Vhembe.
[32]
Vhembe Herald, 21 September 2007, Vhembe.
[33]
Innes, J. and Booher, D.E. (2004) Reframing Public Participation: Strategies for the 21st Century. Planning Theory and Practice, 5, 419-436. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1464935042000293170
[34]
Graham, J., Bruce, A. and Plumtree, T. (2003) Principles for Good Governance in the 21st Century. Institute on Governance, Ottawa.
[35]
Arnstein, S.R. (1969) A Ladder of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35, 216-224.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01944366908977225
[36]
Abelson, J. and Gauvin, F. (2006) Assessing the Impacts of Public Participation: Concepts, Evidence and Policy Implications. Research Report/06 Public Involvement Network. http://www.cpm.org
[37]
Lowry, A.L. (2013) Achieving Justice through Public Participation: Measuring the Effectiveness of New York’s Enhanced Public Participation Plan for Environmental Justice Communities. MA Dissertation, Paper 180.
[38]
Connor, D.M. (1988) A New Ladder of Citizen Participation. National Civic Review, 77, 249-257.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ncr.4100770309
[39]
Castle, D. and Culver, K. (2006) Public Engagement, Public Consultation, Innovation and the Market. The Integrated Assessment Journal: Bridging Sciences and Policy, 6, 137-152.
[40]
Berman, E. (1997) Dealing with Cynical Citizens. Public Administration Review, 57, 105-112.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/977058
[41]
Irvin, R. and Stansbury, J. (2004) Citizen Participation in Decision Making: Is It Worth the Effort? Public Administration Review, 64, 55-65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2004.00346.x
[42]
Schooley, S. (2008) Appreciative Democracy: The Feasibility of Using Appreciative Inquiry at the Local Government Level by Public Administrators to Increase Citizen Participation. Public Administration Quarterly, 32, 243-281.
[43]
Yang, K. and Callahan, K. (2007) Citizen Involvement Efforts and Bureaucratic Responsiveness: Participatory Values, Stakeholder Pressures, and Administrative Practicality. Public Administration Review, 67, 249-264.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00711.x
[44]
Edwards, V.A. (2013) Theory of Participation for 21st Governance. International Journal of Organisation Theory and Behavior, 16, 1-28.
