
Image: SUPPLIED
The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality will make a formal submission to arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa on Tuesday objecting to the names Gqeberha and Kariega.
Mayor Nqaba Bhanga hosted a meeting at City Hall on Monday evening with various stakeholders and called for the process to be reopened.
There have been more than 66,000 complaints from Nelson Mandela Bay residents and Bhanga said that reactions were diverse and did not reflect the views of any particular race.
“It became a conversation across the board and as we move forward as a country it should be a conversation [representing] all people of SA,” Bhanga said.
Political commentator Prof Mcebisi Ndletyana said the the naming process was inadequate in that those who attended the public participation meetings could not be considered as representatives of their communities.
Ndletyana said of the eight public participation meetings held, 393 people had attended in a population of more than 1.4 million.
“That on its own is not representative and this point was raised at the actual meetings when they were held by people who attended.
“In Motherwell, for instance, only 10 people attended in a community of more than 140,000.”