STATEMENT BY EXECUTIVE MAYOR ALDERMAN PATRICIA DE LILLE AT THE UNVEILLING OF THE NELSON MANDELA BOULEVARD, July 15 2011

The Premier of the Western Cape, Helen, Zille,
The MEC for Transport and Public Works, Mr. Robin Carlisle,
The MEC for Community Safety, Mr. Dan Plato,
Members of the consular corps,
Former Mayor, Alderman Frank van der Velde,
Former Mayor, Alderman Gordon Oliver,
Members of the Mayoral Committee,
Councillors,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning, goeiedag, molweni,

This is a great day for the City of Cape Town. Today, we take a step towards making our city even more inclusive. Today, on the 15 July 2011, we make a firm commitment to honouring our history, a history that has allowed us to come together in our diversity and celebrate this moment together.

There is a great truth that the spaces in which we live influence our perceptions, our very way of thinking. Our past, and the trauma and hope that are mingled in it, is writ large across our landscape.

The apartheid government knew full well what it meant to claim ownership of our public spaces. Through a careful strategy of selective naming and selective cultural recognition, it sought to stamp its interpretation of the world on future generations.

It was a campaign to own history and in so doing, own future memory.

That legacy lives with us. We are all too familiar with the realities of apartheid spatial planning and its inherent discrimination.

That planning sought to keep us divided, even long after the apartheid government was gone. As such, we have an imbalance in our named public spaces. We recognise some histories, but not our shared history.

We are changing that today.

Today, we are renaming Eastern Boulevard to Nelson Mandela Boulevard, in honour of our former president and world icon. It was Nelson Mandela who helped us realise the strength in our diversity.

He was one of those who showed us the way towards a future open, opportunity society built on mutual respect. He suffered and sacrificed a great deal to teach us those lessons.

We honour Tata Madiba and his legacy today.

From today, commuters coming into Cape Town on one of the main arteries leading into the heart of our city will travel on Madiba's road.

But let us not just think of this road as something physical that we can see and touch. Let us think of this road as the one upon which we travel as a city to achieve Madiba's vision.

The history of all our people is important. No one should ever have their history rewritten or eradicated.

Those actions would only foster the anger and neglect that many of us know too well. And it would be short-sighted.

Instead, it is possible for us to realise that everyone's history should be recognised and respected and that, in fact, we do not have isolated heritages but a shared past.

Let us acknowledge that and celebrate it in all its richness and diversity.

As we honour our old spaces, so too must we create new spaces that provide a true reflection of where we come from and where we are going.

If we truly want to build the opportunity city of the future, then we must begin by drawing on our collective strength and shared experience. We must become true witnesses of our history to embrace the future with all that we have.

In so doing, we establish ourselves as a society of honesty that values the contributions of every community and not one that refuses to examine itself and each other.

This will mean that as we move forward with new roads, and new spaces, we will begin this redress towards acknowledging our shared history.

By the end of the year, we will rename Oswald Pirow Drive to Christiaan Barnard, after the celebrated surgeon. We will also name a square on St. George's Mall after the great Khoisan leader Krotoa and will honour Inkosi Albert Luthuli by naming the Concourse between the Civic Centre and the Artscape after the Nobel Prize winner and one of our most celebrated figures.

As we prepare to celebrate Mandela day, this renaming reaffirms our commitment to building greater inclusivity and acknowledging our history by honouring Tata Madiba's legacy.

SPEECH BY EXECUTIVE MAYOR ALDERMAN PATRICIA DE LILLE AT THE UNVEILING OF THE NELSON MANDELA BOULEVARD ON 15 JULY 2011

By way of clarification, the area referred to in the speech as a square on St Georges Mall - to be named after the great Khoisan leader Krotoa - specifically refers to the pedestrianised portion of Castle Street between Burg and Adderley streets which intersects with St. George's Mall.

Statement issued by the Communication Department, City of Cape Town, July 15 2011

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter