The City of Tshwane will soon launch public consultations on the proposed renaming of Wonderboom Airport.
Image: File
The proposed renaming of the City of Tshwane's municipal entity Wonderboom National Airport in honour of the Ndebele people who were forced out of the area during apartheid has been described as a fitting move to restore dignity to the original inhabitants of the land.
This was according to Joel Masilela, the Section 79 chairperson of Economic Development & Spatial Planning in Tshwane, who responded to opposition parties' criticism against the airport's name-change proposal.
Opposition parties believe the exercise, which has been approved for public consultation, would be an unnecessary waste of taxpayer money.
Masilela said: "What we are doing is to dignify the black people. There can never be a history that started in 1652 that will replace the history of the Nguni tribe that started even before the 1500s."
He added that the city would ensure the airport becomes internationally recognised and profitable.
DA’s Dikeledi Selowa, also former MMC for Roads and Transport, said Wonderboom Airport faces serious operational and financial challenges.
"The City of Tshwane has acknowledged that the airport has been operating at a loss for many years and only five out of the eight turnaround interventions have been completed," she said.
She criticised the city for wanting to rename the airport by replacing "one part of history with another when they could all co-exist. Wonderport Airport played a part during World War Two and those parts of our history cannot be erased".
Sarah Mabotsa, MMC for Economic Development & Spatial Planning, said the proposer of the name-change, Jan Mthimkhulu Mahlangu, first submitted the proposal in April 2018 and resubmitted it in 2024.
Mabotsa said it is being considered under the City’s Geographical Names Policy, approved in 2023.
She confirmed that the city approved initiating a public participation process to seek residents’ input on a proposal to rename Wonderboom Airport in recognition of the original Ndebele landowners of the area.
"The name 'Wonderboom' refers to the historic fig tree located in the Wonderboom Nature Reserve. The tree, believed to be more than 1,000 years old, was named by Voortrekker leader Hendrik Potgieter in 1836. Historically, the site became associated with the commemoration of the Day of the Vow under the tree’s shade," she said.
Mabotsa said over time, the tree was damaged by a fire reportedly caused by a hunting party in 1870, while disease further reduced its size. However, several of its branches developed roots where they touched the ground, creating new trunks and extending the canopy.
She said the proposal seeks to honour the Ndebele nation as the original landowners of the area on which the airport is situated.
Mabotsa added that a public participation process would be undertaken to allow Tshwane residents and stakeholders an opportunity to provide input on the proposal before any final decision is taken.
"Dates and details of the public participation meetings will be communicated in due course," she said.
Dana Wannenburg, DA Tshwane chief whip, said the municipal-run airport is a key economic asset with potential to boost investment, tourism, aviation development and job creation. He said the debate should focus on sustainability, expansion and economic opportunity.
"The DA’s position is that municipalities should not continue operating airports where doing so places ongoing financial pressure on the city and ratepayers. Airports require specialised operational expertise, long-term infrastructure investment, and commercially driven management models to remain competitive and viable.
"For this reason, the DA supports the exploration of a transparent long-term public-private partnership model through a lease agreement that would allow the private sector to invest in, improve, maintain, and expand the airport while the city retains ownership of the asset," he said.