ANC Caucus in support of renaming William Nicol Drive to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Drive

14 April 2021

It is with excitement that we pen this statement, in sight of the City's consideration to rename William Nicol Drive after the late Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

The road, which connects the north of Johannesburg with the CBD, was established during Nicol's time as governer in the Transvaal. Due to him overseeing the development, he then named the road after himself.

In light of transformation, we are in support of this proposed name change, in honour and recognition of our great stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and her great contribution in the South African political sphere.

As the ANC Caucus, we also highly recognise and appreciate the level of support we received from members of the Government of Local Unity (GLU) towards the approval to start the process of renaming William Nicol Drive. It is always commendable when political parties with different ideological standings are able to come together and unite behind one progressive idea, and we thank them for their commitment.

We need to also note the backward stance taken by the Democratic Alliance, in their attempt to reject the proposed renaming. It must be known that their latest stunt, confirms the long standing view that they do not believe in the transformation agenda of the new South Africa. Their project as a political party is to ensure that all the remnants of apartheid and its painful past must linger around us. Regardless of this, we refuse to be deterred and we will continue to advocate for the proposed renaming of William Nicol Drive to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Drive.

Mama Winnie experienced the cold face of apartheid for the most part of her young life. Her resilience against the tactics of the oppressive regime is part of the reason why she is highly deserving of this honour.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was a dedicated and strong cadre of the movement, who remained steadfast in the face of political hardship — a true definition of imbokodo. Her motto was to always put the people first and serve them with honour and humility.

For so long, women in the struggle have been under-represented, misrepresented and marginalised. We as the City of Johannesburg ANC Caucus are championing the wheels of change by making sure that all significant female leaders are not erased from the books of history.

It is on that note that we proudly welcome this renaming and want to encourage all residents and stakeholders of the city to participate in the public consultation process for the proposed renaming.

Issued by ANC Caucus, 14 April 2021