Sunshine Coast presents R157m case for not changing names of towns in the area

It would cost about R157-million to change the names of the popular tourist destination Port Alfred and the neighbouring towns of Alexandria and Bushman’s River Mouth, said the Sunshine Coast Tourism board.

Sunshine Coast Tourism’s chairperson, Wouter Hensens, said that as the official marketing organisation of the Ndlambe Local Municipality, the organisation would focus on the consequences of name changes from a business and tourism perspective, while steering clear of ideological discussions.

“We therefore present our position in the context of the brand reputation of our area and the predicted economic consequences of potential name changes. We also look at alternatives to make our local identity more inclusive,” said Hensens.

The Eastern Cape Provincial Geographical Names Committee has started the process of changing the name of Port Alfred to iCawa or iCoyi, the Kowie River to iQoyi and Alexandria to Nkosi Chungwa or eMnyameni.

Read more: Proposed Port Alfred name change to honour indigenous heritage, community cites tourism risk

However, in a poll conducted by Sunshine Coast Tourism, based in Port Alfred, out of 1,455 respondents, 94% (1,356) voted against a name change.

“From our discussions with stakeholders, we identified that, beyond personal or ideological drivers, the expected cost and loss of business was the most apparent concern," said Hensens.

“With the help of an artificial intelligence simulation, we have identified the potential cost of name-changing to our area, using online data from studies into the cost of name-changing internationally, as well as search engine data from regional destinations, including Gqeberha … and Makhanda.”

Hensens explained that in their AI simulation, they postulated that three towns in the Ndlambe municipality changed their names: Port Alfred, Bushman’s River Mouth, and Alexandria.

Data from the AI showed that:

• It would cost the Ndlambe municipality R3-million to change signs, maps and documentation for each of the three towns, resulting in R9-million in public expenses;
• It would cost at least R3-million to rebrand the three towns as destinations;
• It would cost businesses in the three towns R22-million to update their names on signage, stationery, websites and marketing materials; and
• Tourism and businesses in the towns would suffer a loss of R123-million, bringing the total losses to R157-million.

“When renowned towns change their names, businesses suffer a temporary but significant drop in digital search rankings. This affects both destination branding and individual businesses' online visibility, reducing potential tourist and customer traffic for months. Search engine presence would suffer, reducing web traffic. Businesses reliant on the old town names or those directly involved in tourism would see reduced customer acquisition until new digital strategies gain traction,” said Hensens.

“Based on common impacts and considering the strong tourism nature of our businesses, a 14% drop in annual revenue may be expected. Working with an average business turnover of R2-million, the short-term loss would be R280,000 per business, and with 440 businesses being affected, this would comprise revenue losses exceeding R123-million over the three towns.

“This R157-million aligns closely to the losses predicted when using macroeconomic data from Ndlambe’s Integrated Development Plan 2022-2027 that outlines a total tourism spend in Ndlambe of R2.45-billion in 2023, and the R145-million loss to local business would signify a 6% drop in total tourism income.”

Revenue losses would affect businesses, leading to a loss of local purchasing and employment opportunities in the community.

“In short, we all pay the price,” said Hensens.

“To our knowledge, there is no funding available beyond perhaps a fund for Ndlambe municipality for public signage, which only presents a small fraction of the total cost.”

He proposed that, as a way to address the cost issue and to create a more inclusive community, the South African Geographical Names Council  (SAGNC) introduce dual names.

“Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, Norway, but also South Africa have implemented this successfully, where two names are officially used to enhance recognisability and celebrate local cultural or indigenous heritage. Examples include Cape Byron / Walgun (Australia), Mount Cook / Aoraki (New Zealand), and Queen Charlotte Island / Haida Gwaii (Canada).

Call for public disclosure

Marius Coetzee, the attorney for the Port Alfred Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association, sent a letter to the SAGNC asking it to make public the application for the name changes of Port Alfred, the Kowie River and Alexandria.

“We anticipated that you would have provided the detailed motivations and historical and/or cultural research and evidence in support of the applications to us by 12 August 2025. From your response, it appears that ‘the administrative process is still under way and has not been concluded,’ wrote Coetzee.

“More significantly, you indicated that the subcommittees of the Eastern Cape Provincial Geographical Names Committee (ECPGNC) are now seized with extensive historical and cultural research and the gathering of evidence ‘on the application’.

“The stakeholders’ consultation meeting is scheduled for 10 September 2025. Our clients have still not had sight of the information requested, and you have declined to provide it to us. It cannot be expected of our client to rely on ex-post facto accounts in the media about the motivations and research relevant to the proposed name changes. It requires the actual information as presented to the ECPGNC in support of the application to formulate its views and to adopt a formal position in relation to the process.”

Statements from the ECPGNC created the “distinct impression” that the name change for Port Alfred was a foregone conclusion, wrote Coetzee.

Defamation

Meanwhile, following a heated social media debate over the name change of Port Elizabeth International Airport to Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport, the chairperson of the ECPGNC, Christian Martin, on Thursday opened a criminal case against a Facebook user for “defamation of character, injury to my good name and reputation by falsely accusing me of being a racist, with an intention to cause an injury to my dignity by publishing false and unfounded statements”.

This was after Sunshine Coast Tourism Board member Ed Gutsche allegedly called Martin a “racist anti-colonizer” in a Facebook post. Martin said the police must first investigate if it was, in fact, Gutsche who published the post. DM