Council confusion blamed for ‘racist’ street name

A “racist” name proposed for a new street in Perth’s southern suburbs is set to rejected, after the local council admitted it didn’t realise what it meant. The City of Kwinana has agreed to use an alternative to “Kaffir Road” for a new estate in Mandogalup, about 33km south of Perth, which was the subject of heated debate on Wednesday. Police Minister Paul Papalia said he was not offended by the term “kaffir”, considered one of the most offensive that can be used in South African English. The West Australian understands Landgate intervened after the decision was revealed on Wednesday. In 2018, a South African real estate agent was jailed for using the term while abusing a black police officer. “I can tell you that Kwinana Council is not racist,” said Mr Papalia, the MP for the neighbouring Warnbro electorate. “Let’s not grab at being offended by everything, everywhere. “We’re not in South Africa, we’re in Australia.” Kwinana mayor Peter Feasey said Council had followed due process. “It is a requirement of the process that the names be endorsed by the local government,” he said. Council minutes reported that the proposed name had passed “preliminary validation” on the Geographic Names Committee webpage, but the State Government said on Wednesday that Landgate was not aware of any formal request. Lands Minister John Carey said the contentious name was unlikely to pass the next hurdle. “We don’t believe there was any ill-intent on behalf of the local government in this instance,” he said. “I’m advised that Landgate has not received any proposal regarding this name from any party, and it would not be in line with the policies and standards set for Geographical naming in Western Australia. “Names which may be considered offensive or derogatory will not be approved.” In the same meeting on October 23, the council renamed Grow Loop, because it did not have “prestige”, and changed Giles Road to Bungaree Road for more “cultural connection”. But no councillor objected to retaining Kaffir Roa”, named after a lime tree. A Satterley spokesperson said the theme for the names presented to the council was plants and flowers. “We immediately rectified the issue once we realised there was cause for concern,” they added. “There was no ill-intent in the naming process, it was named after a lime tree. “The last thing we would ever want to do is cause offence to anyone in the community.” While the Kaffir lime is named after an ethnic group in Sri Lanka, due to its use in South Africa, many now use the Thai word for the plant: makrut. In 2019, US cultural critic Soleil Ho, placed Kaffir lime on the list of words she would never use in a restaurant review, alongside ethnic, slutty and crack.