The Renaming as Enduring Legacy of British Indirect Rule !
By Fumene George Tsibani:
East London Airport was renamed King Phalo Airport as part of the process to change colonial and apartheid names. (IMAGE: Buffalo City Self-Drive website)
1. Historical Context of Renaming
The post-apartheid South Africa's initiatives to rename public heritage spaces and icons, often presented as decolonial redress, ironically perpetuate colonial logics under a deceptive guise. This article argues that these processes, deeply rooted in British Indirect Rule (BIR) and linked to benefits for traditional leaders, inadvertently maintain BIR's operational principles through contemporary heritage policy by bodies like COGTA (Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs), the National House of Traditional Leaders and Khoi...