Proposal to rename portion of Vanguard Drive after Jakes Gerwel to go before Council

(Note to editors: The following is an extract of a speech to be delivered by Mayor De Lille at the Jakes Gerwel Memorial Lecture on 1 December 2013).

Mrs Phoebe Gerwel and Gerard Gerwel

Members of the Gerwel family

The Minister for National Development, Trevor Manuel

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

Mr Ahmed Kathrada

Honoured guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Good afternoon, goeie dag, molweni, as-salaam alaikum.

It is an honour to be addressing you today as part of our broader naming and renaming process in Cape Town.

In deciding to name new spaces and rename some old ones, we have made a decision to try and build a new city - one with physical reminders of inclusion so that, while we do not forget the past, we are reminded of the kind of future we are working towards.

And we are doing so after the most inclusive and open process of naming and renaming public spaces in the country.

As I have said many times, the process of recognising a shared history does not mean disrespecting some cultures in favour of others.

We cannot destroy history.

But we are a country that has been in transition from an old order to a new one.

That transition is about changing our society and the name changes are a critical part of it.

They are an active demonstration of our commitment to redress and reconciliation.

We are recognising the history of all the people of this great city and making a new and inclusive place that worries more about the great future that lies before us, and not the painful past behind us.

It is this lesson that has informed our naming and renaming processes every step of the way.

And it is the reason why Capetonians are coming together, unlike any other city, in shared respect and with the realisation that strong societies are built on compromise and understanding.

We know that the secret to building a city is in a powerful combination of the symbolic gesture with the gesture of direct action.

We must not make the mistake of underestimating the powerful psychological effect of owning and recognising our suppressed history.

We should not under-value the power of a cultural transition that serves to break down the barriers that have created a ‘theirs' and ‘ours' sense of cultural recognition.

And we must never allow some people in our society to tell us that divisions between us cannot be overcome.

But I believe that one of the reasons why reconciliation has stalled in many places in South Africa generally is that we have not matched the power of the symbolic with the power of action.

It is all very well to say the right things but that means little if you do not take action to give meaning and substance to your rhetoric.

That is why I am proud that the process of street naming and renaming has proceeded with such meaningful effect in Cape Town.

It is an effect that is seeking to reclaim our history and make a better, inclusive future.

That future has been built by many heroic people.

But we are here to pay tribute to one of the greatest of them, a man who we greatly miss: the great Capetonian and South African Professor Gert Johannes ‘Jakes' Gerwel, who we lost so tragically last year.

It is difficult to pay tribute to a man whose story is so well known to us all.

Indeed, his story is the story of our young democracy.

He gave decades of selfless service, from his days as a student leader to his days as a leading voice in civil society where he used his platform as an educator to drive the need for change.

People like him, who used their energy and their will to change an unjust society, helped make this world a better place.

But even though he had already achieved so much, he literally became one of the architects of the New South Africa as the director-general in Nelson Mandela's presidency.

As we all know, he was one of Madiba's most trusted friends and advisers and a custodian of the Madiba legacy through the Mandela-Rhodes Foundation.

At the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the foundation, I announced our proposal to name a portion of Vanguard Drive after Jakes.

Since that time, we have referred the matter to our Naming Committee, who have considered the matter and put it out to public participation.

It will therefore come before Council in February next year where it can be formally considered and, if approved, a date set for the first quarter of next year.

If approved, it will be just one of many ways that we remember this great human being.

Thank you, baie dankie, enkosi.

This item by Patricia de Lille first appeared in Cape Town This Week, the weekly online newsletter of the Mayor of Cape Town.

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