Johnathan Paoli
THE Government has announced an official name change of the KwaZulu-Natal town of Ladysmith to uMnambithi, with the name change having been published in the Government Gazette on Friday last week.
Mayor Zama Sibisie welcomed the renaming and said the executive was happy it was done through a democratic process.
“The application was brought forward by some people who reside in our municipality. We also as a municipality did not object to that. Since the change has been approved, we are OK with that because our people chose the name of their town – changing from Ladysmith to uMnambithi,” Sibisie said in a statement.
Sibisie said this decision marked a significant departure from the town’s colonial past.
The town was originally named after Juana María de los Dolores de León Smith, also known as ‘Lady Smith’, the Spanish wife of Sir Harry Smith, the governor of the Cape Colony in October 1850.
The mayor said the renaming process was democratic, with residents within the municipality being invited to vote on the proposed name change.
Recently one of Joburg’s busiest roads, William Nicol was renamed Winnie Mandela Drive
Earlier this month, Inkatha Freedom Party celebrated its 49th birthday and human rights day in a special event hosted in uMnambithi, which is a considerable IFP support base.
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