A toponymic investigation of South African gated communities

ABSTRACT

Research into place names has evolved to beyond the encyclopaedic rendition of their etymological and taxonomic foundations. Toponymy was criticized as atheoretical, apolitical and uncritical until the toponymic turn in the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s. In South Africa, this change can arguably be traced to the mid-1980s with Pirie’s insightful treatment of the torturous process of the naming of Soweto. It was until the early 2000s before geographers again took South African toponymy in their sights. This study, focussing on the toponymy of gated communities in non-metropolitan Western Cape, adds to that growing corpus of knowledge by seeking to understand the message that their naming imprints on the urbanscape. The study employs Bourdieu’s notion of symbolic capital to illustrate how the naming of gated communities adds to their exclusionary qualities by creating an illusionary residential territory. Private developers use the symbolic capital of naming to market developments thereby creating economic capital. Using a database of gated-community names collected in a previous study it is shown that developments rely heavily on environmental names and names that display elements of community, heritage and links to European locales. The naming conventions point to names symbolizing notions of status and prestige. Interviews with respondents involved in the naming and government officials who consider the names submitted to them point to a situation where there is very little statutory guidance and control over the naming of gated communities. Questions arise as to who contributes to naming in the post-apartheid urbanscape.

KEYWORDS:

• Bourdieu
• gated communities
• naming
• symbolic capital
• toponymy
• Western Cape

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Portuguese place names are among the oldest European place names bestowed upon South Africa by Portuguese seafarers seeking a sea passage to India.

2. It must be noted that Lubbe (2011) distinguishes five political dispensations in South African history, starting in 1652. This ahistorical categorization negates the history of South Africa pre-1652. It is quite possible that the scale of geographical name changing in South Africa post-1652 is much larger than suggested by Lubbe. On the other hand, Ndletyana (2012, p. 100) recognizes the wholesale toponymic changes of that period: ‘South Africa’s indigenous Khoe-San population were the victims. They not only lost the means of subsistence, but also had their indigenous toponymy replaced by colonial toponymy.’

3. Neethling (2000) views ‘cluster-type housing’ and ‘townhouse developments’ as housing schemes. He adds that these housing schemes are enclosed and clearly demarcated, with a focus on security. This paper refers to these housing schemes as gated communities.

4. Various languages were used in naming developments. This italicized name is in the original language and the name in brackets is the English translation.

5. A thin strip of rawhide or worked leather, used as a rope or in making the seats of chairs or benches and other furniture.

6. A flag indicating the company that a ship belongs to.

7. The dispositif is defined as ‘a thoroughly heterogenous ensemble consisting of discourses, institutions, architectural forms, regulatory decisions, laws, administrative measures, scientific statements, philosophical, moral, and philanthropic propositions – in short the said as much as the unsaid’ (Foucault & Gordon, 1980 in Giraut & Houssay-Holzschuch, 2016, p. 6).