NEARLY nine out of 10 South Africans do not believe government should be free as it sees fit to change the names of the cities they live in. And 58% do not want the names to be changed at all.

This is one of the unexpected findings of a survey conducted by Proactive Insight for a special Business Day feature on people's attitudes towards the change that has or has not taken place during the first 10 years of democracy.

The response to the question "Should the names of our cities be changed?" should provide much food for thought for those in power at all levels of government and especially local authorities toying with the idea at present.

The overwhelming majority of those surveyed countrywide inclined either towards retaining the existing names or changing them only after residents were consulted. This applied across race, gender, income, age group and geographical lines.

More than half the respondents in all of the above categories are against the names of cities being changed at all, with the sole exception of those living in East London, and majority says cities should be renamed only if that is the will of the people.

Perhaps understandably, whites (69%) are more inclined to stick with existing names than blacks (55%). But neither group is particularly keen to leave the decision in the hands of government (2,5% and 14,4% respectively). Wealthier people (defined as those earning R4500 a month or more) are a little more conservative when it comes to name changes than the poor, although both categories are broadly against change without good reason. Younger respondents see less need for the names of cities to change than older generations, arguably because apartheid-era names do not prompt as many painful memories.

Surveyed by metropolitan area, the citizens of Cape Town (72%) are most opposed to name changes, possibly because the Peter Marais street-renaming debacle remains fresh in many memories. And, with the exception of East London, more than half of the respondents in SA's other large cities indicated that they would prefer city names to remain unchanged.

However, the question "How do you feel about the facilities/amenities in towns and cities?" elicited a split response, with most whites (64%) believing they had not been improved over the past 10 years and were in fact "wasting away", and slightly more blacks saying they had improved (41%) than those saying they have degenerated (39%). Respondents living in Port Elizabeth are most positive (58% see an improvement), while those in Durban are most negative (54% perceive a decline).

South Africans' favourite city is Cape Town (32%), followed by Johannesburg and Durban (20% each), with East London getting the thumbs up from just 2% of respondents. However, 52% of East Londoners rate their own city tops, compared with only 37% of Gautengers who favour Johannesburg, 29% in Pretoria, 47% in Port Elizabeth and 50% in Bloemfontein. Most in love with their own cities are Capetonians (90%) and Durbanites (75%).