By Chris Khumalo

Durban - The first phase of renaming all major streets in Durban has been finalised with nine new names, largely consisting of former struggle icons getting the nod from the eThekwini Municipality.

The Non-Racism, Non Sexism and Non Discrimination Sub-Committee has approved the nine names and the city's executive committee is also expected to put their final stamp of approval on the recommendations.

The process of removing Durban's colonial street names, statues and council buildings is now at an advanced stage and the task team, headed by the Speaker of Council, Nomusa Dube, has asked for the process to be expedited to avoid cost implications from businesses.

The first municipal building to be renamed is Martin West, which will be known as Florence Mkhize, a former councilor who has been recognised for her charity work.

The renaming of city streets comes after a task team consisting of city officials and outside stakeholders received proposals from members of the public through a wide consultative process.

While the names of well known struggle icons such as Chief Albert Luthuli have been put forward, unsung heroes and heroines, including Johannes Nkosi, who was killed while leading the anti-dompas campaign and Dr Margaret Mncadi, the first president of the ANC Women's League in Natal, have been raised.

Lesser known historical figures, whose names will make it into the city streets include Masabalala Yengwa, who was a Provincial Secretary of the ANC at the time when Inkosi Albert Luthuli was President.

His name will replace NMR Avenue.

Alice Street will now be named after Johannes Nkosi, who died on Alice Street in 1930 as he was leading an anti-dompas campaign.

Stanger Street will be known as Stalwart Simelane Street, who was a treasurer of the ANC in the 1950s while M4 Southern Freeway will be named after Chief Albert Luthuli.

The contribution made by women in the struggle against apartheid has also been recognised with the name of Margaret Mncadi being recommended for Victoria Embarkment.

The renaming process has been described as racially inclusive with Grey/Broad Street being renamed to Yusuf Daddoo and Commercial Road become Bram Fischer Road. M4 Northern Freeway will be known as Ruth First.

In a report submitted to the committee the task team raised concerns about the slow pace of the renaming process and urged the committee to speed-it up.

"We are concerned that the streets were being renamed in a piecemeal manner as this might cause objections from the business sector.

"We need to identify all the major routes and streets that were earmarked for renaming in the whole of the municipality and rename them at one go," said the report.

The task team will visit the Roads Department to view the municipality's road map, identify major roads and submit a list of those proposed for renaming to the committee for consideration. - BuaNews