Madam Speaker, the purpose of reviewing geographic and place names is indeed to promote reconciliation and nation- building in our society. It is necessarily so that a process of renaming has to be inclusive and take into consideration the views of communities, including concerns that some of them may have.
As hon members are aware, the responsibility for street names and many local, geographic and other entities resides within the jurisdiction of the provincial and local governments. In taking these important decisions, these spheres of government are expected to be guided by the principles enshrined in the Constitution and relevant legislation. We do recognise that matters such as these do not necessarily lend themselves to consensual decision-making and will indeed generate intense debate. As such, those in possession of authority do carry the responsibility to ensure that their decisions reflect not only the views of the majority, but also evince reasonable levels of sensitivity and sensibility.
I am informed, hon member, that with regard to the specific question of the highway to which you refer, representatives of the ANC and the IFP in the eThekwini Council are interacting to try and find an amicable solution to this issue. We would want to encourage that. We therefore wish to call upon all of those entrusted with this responsibility of renaming streets and other geographical entities, the eThekwini Metropolitan Council included, to ensure that the decisions that they take indeed serve to achieve as much unity as possible.
In that spirit of inclusivity and nation-building, we would want to encourage representatives of the ANC and the IFP in the eThekwini Council to use the interactive meetings taking place between the two political parties to discuss this very issue of renaming streets in the metro and also to discuss the matter of the Mangosuthu Highway and see whether an amicable solution can be found. Thank you.