The name KuGompo City, proposed as the new official name for East London, has roots that stretch back to the late 1800s.
Bonisile Grey, who submitted the proposal, said KuGompo was the original name for the region, inspired by the sound of waves crashing against Gompo Rock — now known as Cove Rock — a sacred site for the amaXhosa people.
Grey said the name came from the “Gompo, Gompo” sound made by the waves at the rock, a place where Xhosa kings and the prophet Nxele gathered during the frontier wars for spiritual ceremonies.
Grey urged residents to “accept and embrace” the name that has sparked widespread debate.
This comes after reports in the Daily Dispatch that sports, arts & culture minister Gayton Mckenzie has approved 21 geographical name changes across SA, including East London and four other towns in the province.
The changes will be gazetted in the coming weeks.
The news caused an uproar among social media users and business leaders, who questioned the preference for KuGompo over eMonti, which has been informally used for many years.
However, Grey, who made the submission to rename East London in 2020, said the region had been known as Kugompo as early as the late 1800s.
Grey also submitted a proposal in 2018 to rename the East London Airport to King Phalo Airport.
This, too, sparked a public debate, with the Amagqunukhwebe royal council arguing it should be renamed the Chief Pato Airport instead.
Grey argued at the time that Chief Pato already had a fort outside East London named after him, Fort Pato, but nothing in the province had been named after King Phalo.
Grey further attracted controversy when he submitted a proposal to rename Macleantown, on the N6 outside East London, to Mpongo, and Nahoon to Nxarhuni, which he argued were their original names.
Speaking to the Dispatch from his home last week, Grey said the name eMonti did not carry any meaning.
“It simply does not exist in any Xhosa vocabulary.
“It was a mispronunciation by the natives after the settlers started calling it the Buffalo River mouth.
“That is the area where the Buffalo River meets the sea.
“Our forefathers could not say mouth, or its Afrikaans rendition of mond, so they called it eMonti, but it had always been known as KuGompo.”
Grey said the name Gompo came from the noise of the waves pounding Gompo Rock.
He said the site was used as a sacred place by amaXhosa, who during the earlier frontier wars visited the landmark for spiritual upliftment.
“Many kings used to sleep there and visit the place.
“The great Xhosa prophet, Nxele, used to assemble all the regiments to the site and it was seen as a very sacred place for amaXhosa, who used it to connect to their ancestors.
“The rock makes the sound ‘gompo, gompo’, so they named the place KuGompo.
“Even during King Gando’s time, it was already in existence as a sacred site.”
He encouraged residents to accept the name.
“People should understand that before colonialism, all these places had names.
“They should accept and embrace KuGompo because it is a beautiful name and has meaning,” he said.
The rock was renamed Doodkist [coffin] by Dutch sailors in the 17th century because of its appearance from the sea.
Later, the British Anglicised it to its current name.
The rock is now a popular tourism attraction, as well as a site for bird breeding and angling.
“To prove this, you can go to earlier reports of precolonial history. You’ll find in Dr WB Rubusana’s writings on how East London was known.
“SEK Mqhayi was known as a poet from KuGompo,” Grey said.
In 2019, various Khoi-san leaders proposed the name “The City Igabaab” for East London.
Igabaab is a Khoi term that means a place where the buffalo dwell.
However, eMonti and KuGompo were the two frontrunners for East London.
To complicate matters, there is already a township in East London named Gompo.
To counter this, a later proposal suggested renaming the township after pioneering unionist Clements Kadalie, while adding “City ” to KuGompo, which ultimately led to approval of the name.
Grey argued that a former Duncan Village mayor during apartheid, Eddie Makeba, had chosen the name for a new housing development for civil servants in the area, to preserve the historical name.
This was corroborated by Gompo resident Vuyo Ngqakayi, 74, who said Makeba took pride in the significance of the name.
Ngqakayi said because of the deep and rich history associated with the name Gompo, he had no objection to East London being renamed KuGompo.
“I heard the news making rounds and I don’t think that’s a problem because this name carries so much rich history.
“We are happy.
“We are, however, disheartened that our area will be renamed to Clements Kadalie, which I don’t have any history on,” he said.
However, another Gompo resident, retired policeman Zama Maqaqa, said he was unhappy with the name change, which he believed would create confusion.
He said he would have preferred East London to be renamed eMonti, as it was more historically and geographically appropriate.
He argued that the erstwhile Gompo Rock was situated far outside East London and had no direct historical connection to the city itself.
He added that the proposal to rename a part of the city after struggle stalwart Clements Kadalie, who was born in what is today Malawi, made no sense.
“Yes he fought for black workers rights, but everything can’t be named after him.”
Resident Mzimkhulu Rickie felt residents were never consulted during the renaming process.
“No-one ever came and asked for our input. We would like to see the person who agreed on this name on behalf of the community, ” he said.
Rickie described the process as a “political scam” that misused public funds for personal gain.
“We are the voters. We are the government.
“We were therefore supposed to be consulted before anything was finalised.”
SA Geographical Names Council (SAGNC) chair Johnny Mohlala, who confirmed the approvals on Tuesday, said people who were unhappy with the new names could submit objections within 30 days after they had been gazetted.
According to the SAGNC, objections should be submitted in writing.
Objectors are required to outline valid reasons for their objection, with joint submissions also welcome.
If the initial objection is ignored, further legal action (such as a review application to a court) may be considered, especially if the consultation process was flawed.
Submissions may be submitted to the council or local councils as stated in the gazette and are free of charge.
Buffalo City Metro held public consultations on the proposed name changes in Qonce, Mdantsane and coastal areas in March and April last year. – Daily Dispatch
