I am aware that Johannesburg’s metro council proposal to rename Sandton Drive as Leila Khaled Drive refers. (“Leave Sandton Drive alone”, October 4) is intended to appease a perceived political constituency that will applaud the proposal.
A terrorist who hijacked more than one aircraft — the innocent passengers escaped unearned deaths thanks only to the hijackers’ ineptitude — is not viewed by the council as a terrorist.
But the council governs not only in the name of people who hold this view but also of many others who are offended by the proposal, who also live in the city, pay taxes and are generally respectful of city laws and governance.
In a mature society we would not have to go out of our way to make inflammatory name changes that achieve nothing meaningful. We would not gratuitously slap the face of an embassy whose government is a supporter of democracy in SA, whose economic policies support our economy, and which could help provide so many desperately needed jobs given just a little encouragement.
The council evidently made this renaming proposal in 2018 but withdrew it. Did it have an attack of good sense? Or is the timing of the present proposal intended to embarrass our president when he has just returned from mending fences in New York?
How about a Benjamin Netanyahu Drive in Sea Point? Why not?
Natalia Hay
Parktown North
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