OLD labels in Mdantsane are set to be a thing of the past, with the launch of a competition to name the streets and neighbourhoods of the area.

An initiative of the Mdantsane Urban Renewal Programme (MURP), residents of Mdantsane have been asked to submit names that they think will better reflect the town’s identity.

The competition, running from 28 February to 14 March, has three categories - naming higher order roads, naming neighbourhoods and a children’s colouring section.

It is aimed at getting rid of the NU moniker, and introducing a new street-naming system that will help emergency services, businesses and the general public to locate addresses more easily. Originally NU stood for the racially offensive Native Unit, but today is known as Neighbouring Unit.

Mdantsane areas are currently known as NUs from 1 to 17. Most of the streets and main roads do not have names, and there is no signage marking those that do have names.

Giving his views on the matter, the programme’s portfolio head, Luntu Bobo, said, “The renewal of Mdantsane as a systematically named area will give residents a better sense of place, belonging and pride in Mdantsane.”

He says the MURP wants as many people as possible to be able to enter the competition. “[This is done] so that we can be certain that the names come from the people of Mdantsane and are not allocated by a few, which was the case with the street names that presently exist in Mdantsane.”

Houses in the township are also numbered in numerical order for each zone and, as a result, some houses share the same number.

“The new system will mirror those that exist elsewhere in Buffalo City [where] each neighbourhood and street has a name and houses are numbered consistently,” reads a press release issued by the MURP.

In the 1950s, the East London city council undertook to move a number of black people from East and West banks to a new dormitory township 25 kilometres outside the city with the aim of creating a fully fledged town, semi-autonomous but economically integrated with white urban areas.

Between the late 1960s and early 70s, thousands of families were settled in Mdantsane but the envisaged growth into a city never materialised.

The MURP has proposed six neighbourhoods and higher order streets that will be chosen from proposals made by residents, of people who have had a great effect on the area. Entry forms will be delivered to each house in Mdantsane; entries can also be completed online, or suggestions call be sent by SMS to 33600.

The colouring competition, for learners between the ages of nine and 12, is being run simultaneously at Mdantsane City Mall, where the colouring material is available.

Entries should be returned to the rent offices in Mdantsane or placed in boxes provided at Mdantsane City Mall.

The winners of the street and neighbourhood naming competition will each win R5 000 in Mdantsane City Mall shopping vouchers; the two winners in the colouring competition will each win R500 in shopping vouchers.

A prize-giving ceremony will be held at Mdantsane City Mall on Saturday, 21 March at 10am. “There will also be many spot prizes for people present at the function,” reads a press release.