South African authorities are reconsidering their decision to rename a street in Durban's red-light district after peacemaker Mahatma Gandhi. An outcry followed the announcement last week and local radio stations have been bombarded with complaints.
His descendants feel one of the main port city centre streets would be more fitting to bear his name. Gandhiji spent 20 years in Durban in the early 1900s, fighting against racism under British colonial rule.
The naming of streets or places after a historical icon is usually greeted with applause by that icon's supporters. But Point Road, the bone of contention - a two mile-long street running from the downtown beach precinct to the city's harbour mouth, is notorious for vice and crime. Over the last few decades, the neighbourhood of apartment blocks has been over-run by growing sex and illicit drug enterprises.
Drug dealers brazenly ply their trade on the street alongside sex workers employed by escort agencies and massage parlours. Many of Durban's more than one million residents of Indian origin have reacted angrily to the move they feel is an insult to Gandhiji, who fought and for the rights of Indian indentured labourers in South Africa.
Ela Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's granddaughter - an African National Congress MP and head of the Gandhi Satyagraha Foundation - is against the renaming, though for a different reason.
"My concern is that Point Road is a small road and for a person with the stature of Gandhiji who has international significance, a much bigger and important road should be named after him," she said.
"As far as Point Road's reputation is concerned, no-one in my family has raised that with me, although I can imagine why people who have a certain affection for Gandhiji and what he stood for, would feel upset about it." Mrs Gandhi said she was disappointed that her family wasn't consulted on the re-naming. Residents of the controversial street offered a mixed response to the proposed name change. "I suppose it's part of change and change is good but it really doesn't make any real difference to me," said one sex worker. "This place has a bad reputation. Perhaps giving it Gandhiji's name will make it change for the better," mused another local.
The planned street name change is part of a nationwide effort by the South African government to honour people who contributed the fight for freedom and human rights. The city council decided on Gandhiji for the notorious street after proposals from the public. The seedy Point Road area is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar upgrade which, it is hoped will ultimately replace its seedy reputation with an upmarket one. Social commentator and academic Ashwin Desai believes it is because of this development that the street should not be named after Gandhiji. "Point Road is becoming the centre's development for the richest of the rich. "It's got these huge skyscrapers at the end of it with a minimum price is 1.5m rand ($250,000); old houses are being broken down and for Gandhiji to be named after it can only be an insult," Mr Desai said.
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March 17th, 2005, 06:31 AM
SA Indians fume at naming sleazy Durban road after Mahatma Gandhi
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