Malibongwe Drive, formerly known as Hans Strijdom Drive ( af, Hans Strijdom-rylaan), is a major road that runs through an industrial area in the northwest of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It connects

Randburg Randburg is an area located in the Gauteng, Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly a separate municipality, its administration devolved to the newly created City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, along with neighbouring Sandton and Roo ...

with Northgate and

Lanseria International Airport Lanseria International Airport is a privately owned international airport that is situated north of Randburg and Sandton to the northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 757-300 and th ...

. ''Malibongwe'' is said to mean "be praised" or blessed and which the Johannesburg Development Agency says refers to the 1956

Women's March Women's March may refer to: * Women's March on Versailles, a 1789 march in Paris * Women's Sunday, a 1908 suffragette march in London * Woman Suffrage Procession, a 1913 march and rally in Washington, D.C. * Women's March (South Africa), a 1956 mar ...

, a woman's march against the carrying of passes. Hans Strijdom Drive, as well as another major Randburg road,

Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966) was a South African politician, a scholar of applied psychology and sociology, and chief editor of ''Die Transvaler'' newspaper. He is commonly regarded as the architect ...

Drive, were renamed due to their strong ties to

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

. Despite the most popular suggestion for the new name being Nelson Mandela Drive, and Nkululeko Drive emerging as the chosen replacement, Hans Strijdom Drive was renamed Malibongwe Drive at the end of September 2007. The reaction from businesses along Hans Strijdom Drive was generally negative, however, with only 20 percent Tammy O'Reilly
"RANDBURG ROADS NOT FINAL"
, http://www.joburg.org.za, January 26, 2007. supporting the name change. Most businesses cited the high cost of having replacement stationery, business cards etc. made. The Damelin Randburg campus is located on Malibongwe Drive.

Route

Malibongwe Drive is part of the R512 Route, which connects

with

Controversy

The change was part of an ongoing plan by the city of

to create politically neutral names to replace upsetting reminders of

's racial past. Many of the name changes in South Africa have been met with opposition as some citizens claim the changes to be all black-politically motivated as in OR Tambo. Yet the new name changes have included white historical figures as well, such as Beyers Naude and

Bram Fischer Abraham Louis Fischer (23 April 1908 – 8 May 1975) was a South African Communist lawyer of Afrikaner descent, notable for anti-apartheid activism and for the legal defence of anti-apartheid figures, including Nelson Mandela, at the Rivonia T ...

(previously

DF Malan Daniël François Malan (; 22 May 1874 – 7 February 1959) was a South African politician who served as the fourth prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. The National Party implemented the system of apartheid, which enforce ...

and

respectively). Of course, both were anti-apartheid activists.

References

Streets and roads of Johannesburg {{Johannesburg-stub