Goodbye Graaff-Reinet: South African town’s name change stirs racial tensions

A survey in December 2023 found that over 80% of the town’s residents opposed the name change. Photograph: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images

A South African town is divided over changing its name from the colonial-era Graaff-Reinet to Robert Sobukwe, after the anti-apartheid activist, in a debate that has inflamed racial tensions.

Petitions have been signed, rival marches held and a formal letter of complaint sent to the sports, arts and culture minister, Gayton McKenzie, who approved the name change on 6 February.