Old joke makes fools of many

GEORGE NEWS - An April Fool's article published on the George Herald front page in 2021, George renamed Goringhaikona, recently resurfaced and elicited an avalanche of reaction when Western Cape Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport Anroux Marais published a statement on the department's website in this regard.

In the statement dated 5 October, Marais categorically denied the name change and explained in detail the procedures needed to change a town's or city's name.

News outlets, including Netwerk24, Maroela Media and Pretoria FM, picked up on the statement and published articles saying that George is not being renamed Goringhaikona. Many readers were up in arms with some online users telling the news platforms to "let sleeping dogs lie".

Georgians who remembered the George Herald tongue-in-cheek front page, that at the time caught many readers unaware, tried to set the other readers right in the comments section, but of course not everybody saw their posts.

In her statement, Marais cautioned against rumours, pointing out that there is a legally required route to have a geographical name changed, and that such a route has not been followed in the case of George.

Author finds it 'hilarious'

The original April Fool's article was written by Ritchie Morris, an award-winning hydrogeologist from Sedgefield who has a gift for words coupled with a vivid imagination.

Morris also has a vast general knowledge and does his homework - very important when writing convincing April Fool's articles. He did an extremely thorough job, even including a map and a so-called notice about the name change in the Government Gazette.

When the Goringhaikona story resurfaced last week, George Herald contacted Morris, who found it highly amusing.

"Thanks for the laugh. Hilarious how people pick up on something and don't read it properly. I just love the comments section - sometimes they are more interesting and funny than the article itself."

The following notice appeared at the end of the 2021 article: "Gotcha! Happy April Fool's Day! The author, Ritchie Morris, is a semi-retired earth and water scientist living inland of Sedgefield developing a free-spirited descriptive imagination driven by fresh air, fine friends, beautiful views and a well-stocked wine cellar."

But of course people seldom read right to the end.

According to Wikipedia, Goringhaikona, also known as Strandlopers, are from the Peninsular Cape Khoe Goringhaiqua tribal authority that was made up of the two houses of the Goringhaikona and Gorachouqua.

Haikona

Marais said citizens of the Western Cape who want a name change of a geographical feature should apply to the Western Cape Provincial Geographical Names Committee.

"The process is clear. No such process has been followed in the case of the town of George. Any comments about a name change for George are thus ill-advised and incorrect," said Marais.

No Minister Marais. It was just a joke! And an old one at that...

Ritchie Morris bluffed most readers with his April Fool's article in 2021.