Grahamstown Officially Renamed: Makhanda

Makhanda is now the official new name for Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, following the name change first announced in the Government Gazette by Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa in June.

The gazetting, which is a legal requirement, served to publicise the decision for objections or comments to be made. Apparently there were hundreds of complaints, which have subsequently been addressed. One lobby group – Keep Grahamstown, Grahamstown – claims the Minister and committee did not follow all necessary processes in the name change.

The name change has been sought for over two decades, and in June Mthethwa reminded South Africans that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended “the renaming of geographic features be a form of ‘symbolic reparation’ to address an unjust past”.

The name of Colonel Graham – after whom Grahamstown was named – evoked “painfully bitter memories”, said Mthethwa.

Graham’s name is captured in history “as being the most brutal and most vicious of the British commanders on that frontier” – even post-battle he and his soldiers used the ‘scorched-earth policy’ to burn the people’s fields and kill their cattle… thus “starving them into submission before killing them”, said the Arts Minister.

The popular university town will now instead be named after a Xhosa warrior, philosopher, prophet and military man named Makhanda who fought against colonialism. Makhanda – also known as Nxele – led a failed attack against the British garrison at Grahamstown in 1819. He became one of the first black political leaders to be imprisoned on Robben Island.

The Arts Minister stressed that the name change is a “national effort to transform the country”.

WATCH Grahamstown now officially Makhanda