City of Johannesburg Press Statement by Cllr Ronald Harris
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Development

ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE “ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU
HERITAGE PRECINCT”

The Executive Mayor, Dr Mpho Phalatse and the Directorate: Arts, Culture and Heritage, are proud to announce the approval, in a tempestuous Council meeting, of the establishment of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Heritage Precinct.

The Precinct will be centred around St Mary’s Cathedral, and it will be bounded by Wanderers, Hoek, De Villiers and Plein streets. Permission has also been obtained to start the public participation process to have the streets surrounding the Precinct renamed.

The following are suggested:
● Plein Street to be renamed Desmond Tutu Street
(https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-12-26-a-timeline-of-a-life-well-lived-in-service-of-the-people/)
● Wanderers Street to be renamed Simeon Nkoane Street
(https://www.bstrust.org/about/our-history)
● De Villiers Street to be renamed Trevor Huddleston Street
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Huddleston)
● Hoek Street to be renamed Ffrench Beytagh Place or alternatively, Cathedral Street.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonville_ffrench-Beytagh)

The City acknowledges the prayers, perseverance and persistence of Dean Xolani Dlwati, his team and the Anglican Church for wanting to honour the immense contribution Archbishop Tutu made to the freedom we celebrate today. We will now be working with various entities and departments to combine the different components of the precinct. The project forms part of the Multi-Party Coalition’s Inner City Renewal Programme. With this milestone decision of Council, we, in partnership with the Anglican Diocese, now embark on the exciting project to deliver to the City, our province, South Africa and the world at large, a long-lasting legacy in celebration of our very own world icon.

As we celebrate today, let us remember what the Arch said: “Learn from yesterday, live for today,
hope for tomorrow”. This befittingly epitomises our “City of Golden Opportunity!”

ENDS
Issued by on behalf of Councillor Ronald Harris, the Member of the Mayoral Committee for
Community Development in the City of Joburg

Press Release 20220428