Tuesday, 10 February 2026

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) welcomes the decision to rename the town of Graaff-Reinet to Robert Sobukwe Town, a long-overdue act of historical justice arising from a lawful and consultative public participation process concluded through the Eastern Cape Provincial Geographic Names Committee, and relevant statutory bodies.

This renaming is a necessary ideological intervention in a country whose geography still highlights colonial conquest. Colonial names were never neutral but they were instruments used to impose authority, legitimise land theft, and normalise the domination of African people. To retain them is to symbolically prolong colonial violence.

Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe represents the highest ideals of revolutionary integrity. As the founding President of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), Sobukwe articulated an uncompromising vision of African self-determination, land restoration, and total liberation from colonial rule. He played a decisive role in organising the 1960 anti-pass campaign, which exposed the brutality of the apartheid system and altered the course of South African history. For this, Sobukwe was uniquely persecuted by the apartheid state, including years of solitary confinement on Robben Island under a special legislative clause designed solely to silence him. His life stands as a testament to courage, clarity, and sacrifice without compromise.

By contrast, Colonel Cornelis Jacobus van de Graaff, after whom Graaff-Reinet is partially named, was a colonial administrator whose record is neither heroic nor admirable. Historical accounts reflect that his tenure in the Cape colonial administration involved misconduct, including behaviour that led to his removal from office. He represents not excellence, leadership, or moral integrity, but the arrogance of colonial governance. To insist on preserving his name is to elevate an irresponsible colonial official over a revolutionary giant who sacrificed everything for freedom.

The historical impact of Graaff and Reinet does not come remotely close to that of Sobukwe. One advanced liberation at great personal cost; the others benefited from and enforced colonial domination. There is no moral or historical equivalence.

The EFF is therefore not surprised by the hostile reaction of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), a party whose understanding of “history” begins and ends with white settler experience.

FF+ does not recognise Sobukwe as part of “their history” because they reject African liberation as legitimate history. To them, history is colonisation, settlement, and democracy without Africans at the centre. Sobukwe’s existence, ideas, and legacy fundamentally threaten their worldview, which is why they oppose his recognition. As we have stated before, Afrikaners are more than welcome to preserve their history in museums and archives, but we will reiterate there is no room for the celebration of the likes of Graaff in naming our geography.

The EFF reaffirms that the decolonisation of space must continue relentlessly. Our towns, streets, and institutions must reflect African revolutionaries, freedom fighters, and builders of a liberated society.

ISSUED BY ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Sinawo Thambo (National Spokesperson) 072 629 7422

Thembi Msane (National Spokesperson) 061 467 8169

Andiswa Madikazi (Parliament Media Liason) 069 516 4924

Thato Lebyane (Media Inquiries) 078 563 1581