ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a series of South African case studies of street renaming that illustrate the interconnectedness of toponymy and the politics of racialization as post-apartheid cities are "confronted with a daunting array of challenges". It argues that the celebration of, and strong opposition to, street signs that the gale of street renaming has attracted, show that street renaming is not merely a symbolic act; rather, it is integral, if not central, to the idea and ideal of South Africa as a "Rainbow nation". The chapter interprets street renaming in the country's four important cities, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban. Despite the manifold dystopias of racial tension, bad governance, violence, and crime, there is consensus on imagining the country as a Rainbow nation and a multicultural melting-pot. Red tape has become the most common element in the attempt to erase the unjust past in Durban's streets signs.
