Cape Town school named after one of apartheid’s chief architects set to change name

CAPE TOWN - A Cape Town school named after one of apartheid’s chief architects is finally set to change its name.

DF Malan High School will become DF Akademia following the end of a legal battle that began in 2020.

The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the name change last week, ending years of resistance from a small group of parents.

The high school is named after South Africa’s fourth prime minister, from 1948 to 1954, under whose leadership apartheid laws were introduced.

Western Cape MPL Khalid Sayed has welcomed the ruling.

“The future cannot be formed within a context of making racist leaders being honoured a norm in our society because we need to stand firm against racism, we need to drive non racialism, and we need to build our nation in a non-racial manner, and this is a step in the right direction.”

Sayed said the change is a small step in the right direction.

“Whilst we may feel that name changes are a very superficial issue, they are not really superficial, they are symbolic of the kind of transformation that we need to drive in our education system because it is at schools where the leaders of tomorrow, where the future is being formed.”

The school governing body said the name change is a lengthy process, but implementation has begun.