Cape Town International Airport, East London Airport, Port Elizabeth International Airport, and Kimberley Airport are subject to renaming as part of government’s Transformation of Heritage Landscape programme.
The renaming will be implemented in terms of the South African Geographical Names Council Act of 1998 (Act No. 118 of 1998).
The minister of arts and culture is responsible for the approval of geographical names after receiving recommendations from the South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC). The SAGNC is responsible for geographical features of national concern including towns, cities, suburbs and any form of human settlement, post offices, stations, highways, airports, and government dams.
Proposals and comments should be sent to Acsa by close of business on Wednesday, 6 June 2018. Proposals and comments may be sent by e-mail to Corporate.Affairs@airports.co.za or hand-delivered to the Acsa office at the nearest airport.
An application will be made to the relevant geographical names provincial committee for processing by Acsa. These committees will verify that the applications comply with the guidelines in the national Handbook on Geographical Names. This will include checking that the name is not offensive or a duplication of an existing one.
The provincial committees will then forward the applications to the SAGNC. The council will then take a decision on the form or forms of names and recommend them for the minister of arts and culture’s approval.
Once the names have been approved by the minister they will then be published in the Government Gazette. A period of 30 days is required for any objections to be submitted in response to the Government Gazette. Should any objections be received, the minister of arts and culture will assess them before a final decision is published in the Government Gazette.
The department of transport and Acsa will then implement the official names as soon as possible.
