January 24, 2006
By Buhle Makabane
PLANS are being put in place for the official renaming of Joburg's busy Harrow Road. The road is to be renamed Joe Slovo Drive in remembrance of the veteran freedom fighter, during an official unveiling ceremony on 10 February.
Executive Mayor Amos Masondo will officiate. Harrow Road forms the boundary between the suburbs of Berea and Yeoville, in the east of the city, where Slovo lived.
The renaming of the street forms part of the City's initiative to have the names of streets, townships and public places changed to reflect the democratic changes the country has undergone since 1994.
The South African Communist Party (SACP), of which Slovo was a member, put forward the request on the tenth anniversary of the anti-apartheid stalwart's death. It was approved by the City council in April 2005.
Signage has already been changed along the stretch of road from the M2 East Harrow Road off-ramp to St Andrews Street in Houghton Estate. Siemert Road, which becomes Harrow Road from the M2 East, and St Andrew's Road, a section of road north of the Louis Botha Avenue flyover, will also be renamed Joe Slovo Drive.
On the day of the official renaming, members of political parties and mayoral committee members are expected to gather outside the Metro Centre in Braamfontein at 9am, says Yondela Silimela, the strategic support director in the City's development planning, transportation and environment department.
The public will be mobilised through their ward councillors. A bus will take guests along the road to see the changed boards, Silimela says.
They will then gather at Yeoville Recreation Centre, where Masondo and a member of the Slovo family will speak. A plaque will be unveiled next to the Louis Botha Avenue flyover, which will be placed a week before the event.
All relevant bodies have been notified about the renaming procedures, including the Gauteng Geographic Names Committee, the Surveyor-General, the Deeds Registry Office, the Post Master-General, Telkom, the South African Police Service, the Johannesburg Roads Agency, the Geographic Information System and emergency management services.
Slovo passed away on 6 January 1995. At the time he was the minister of housing in the government of national unity. He was also national chairperson of the SACP and a member of the national executive committee of the ANC.
Members of the Slovo family have indicated that they will be present, but they have not yet confirmed their attendance, Silimela says. "One person we know for sure will attend is Joe Slovo's widow, Helena Dolny."
Prior to the unveiling of the plaque, there will be a clean-up of Yeoville, facilitated by refuse removal utility Pikitup and the Johannesburg Roads Agency.
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