The District Six Working Committee says the renaming of Keizergracht Street back to its historic name of Hanover Street is the first step in restoring the dignity of the people of District Six.

The official name change ceremony happened on Heritage Day yesterday.

Speaking at the ceremony Mayor Dan Plato said the City took this restorative step following a successful public participation process and approval by full council.

“The name change is taking place on Heritage Day and we hope that this symbolic act of restoring the historic name of Hanover Street will help ease some of the pain for those who were forcefully removed from the area all those years ago and help them to remember the good memories that many will have of living there.

It is clear that the community of District Six had a desire for the original name to be reinstated. The request was made by the District Six Working Committee in June 2019, and we put a call out for a public participation process to allow the whole of Cape Town to submit their comments and views.

Up to 1 195 residents and interested parties submitted comments during the public participation process which ended on 26 July 2019. Ninety-six percent of the participants supported the proposed name change.”