The DA Sandton Constituency Councillors claim they collected 4169 submissions objecting to the City of Johannesburg’s proposal of renaming Sandton Drive to Leila Khaled Drive.
Meanwhile, 285 people are supporting the pending proposal.
The Joburg municipality’s proposal has been under fire since it suggested Sandton Drive be renamed after controversial Palestinian heroine, Leila Khaled.
The DA joins many organisations and political parties such as the Patriotic Alliance and ActionSA, that have rejected the proposal, stressing that the metro cannot rename Sandton Drive after a terrorist and aircraft hijacker.
While the metro is adamant about renaming Sandton Drive, maintaining that the tabled proposal will strengthen diplomatic ties with the Palestinian government, the DA Sandton Constituency Head, Leah Potgieter, said residents decry inadequate service delivery.
“Sandton residents, and Joburg at large, have long expressed extreme frustration over ongoing issues such as severe water shortages, unrehabilitated roads, persistent power outages, and unreliable waste management, to name but a few failures by the current administration,” said Potgieter.
Potgieter slammed the metro for squandering the city’s purse in renaming Sandton Drive, instead of prioritising service delivery.
“While these essential services remain unaddressed, the ANC-run government has chosen to focus on symbolic gestures that do little to improve the day-to-day lives of the people they are meant to serve.
“This move can only be seen as a blatant act of political grandstanding, reflecting a disconnect between the city government and the needs of its citizens. The DA believes that policy changes and effective governance should take precedence over superficial renaming ceremonies. Our commitment is to implement policies that prioritise infrastructure investment, enhance service delivery, and ensure accountability,” said Potgieter.
Potgieter added that the DA will forward the objections of residents to the metro, ensuring the street naming process is transparent before finalisation.
“These objections and comments will be submitted to the city to ensure that the process is transparent, particularly as the current administration has a precedent of not including or detailing objections in reports to pass them unopposed.
“We encourage the City of Johannesburg Council to shelve this renaming proposal and prioritise pressing service delivery issues that affect the residents of Sandton and the City of Joburg as a whole. We can survive without a new street name, we cannot survive without basic services such as water and electricity. We urge residents to vote for the DA in 2026 to bring about real change and restore the focus on the essential services that affect our daily lives,” said Potgieter.
The public has until October 15 to send submissions to the metro, either rejecting or approving the proposal.
People can send their submissions to [email protected] before the deadline.
The Star