This name change is based on the narrow political agendas of individuals in the City of Johannesburg who are putting their own anti-Israel agendas above the interests of the residents and businesses in the city.
This name change violates numerous principles as per the City of Johannesburg’s `Policy on the Naming of Streets and Public Places (4th revision May 2017)’, including the following:
- The fact that there is nothing considered “offensive or hurtful” in the name `Sandton’, so there is no need to rename the street (7.i).
- ‘Leila Khaled’ and her organisation the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) killed or attempted to murder numerous Jewish people and would therefore not “promote the goodwill of people now living in the new South Africa”.
- Does not have a “strong degree of community support” (7.ii).
- Naming a street after such a notorious person does not “increase the marketing or investment potential of the area”, in fact it impairs it (6.xvi and 7.iv).
- Street names should not be “discriminatory or derogatory from the point of view of race, religion etc” or affect “social factors to any community or section of a community” (6.vii). Leila Khaled built her reputation on trying to murder innocent Jewish people, is deeply offensive to Johannesburg’s Jewish community and the largest Jewish community in SA.
- Names should “promote goodwill and reconciliation” (6.viii). This name engenders only hurt and offense for many in this city.
In the spirit of our Government of National Unity we call on our city to maintain the name Sandton Drive and if a name change is deemed necessary, to select a name of a South African who will be a symbol of unity and not one of divisiveness and hate.
This is a time for social cohesion, in the spirit of our Government of National Unity, not a time for divisiveness, which is what this name change will cause. As the city policy documents states, “The naming of features after exceptional people is recognised as a being a way of honouring outstanding individuals for their contribution to the development of the city and the country and should be done sparingly and with careful consideration” (5.iii).
It is reprehensible that the City of Johannesburg is proposing to rename this street after plane hijacker Leila Khaled, a street where the US Consulate is located. This is a hostile and antagonistic gesture at a time when our government is trying to rebuild and repair fragile relations with the United States and encourage investment from them. Renaming the street where the consulate is situated after a woman on their proscribed terror list is a damaging move. This is not in the interests of our city and our country where our economy is desperate for foreign investment.
Furthermore we note that many of the businesses on Sandton Drive were founded or are run by Jewish South Africans, who have over decades created hundreds of thousands of jobs and contributed to its development. To rename Sandton Drive after a woman who embodies attempts to kill Jews globally is extremely painful to SA Jewry. This is the antithesis of the social cohesion envisaged by name changes.
Should a name change be necessary, there are numerous South African heroes, struggle activists and people who have built up our country, who would be worthy of this accolade. An appropriate choice would unite South Africans and enhance the social fabric of the city. Leila Khaled is the antithesis of that.