Where the streets bear our names

TALI FEINBERG

How did their names come to be on those street signs? While some – like Helen Suzman Boulevard and Joe Slovo Drive – are named after obvious anti-apartheid icons, some are more mysterious. What follows isn’t a complete list, but a small sample of some of the streets with a Jewish connection.

Rabbi Mirvish Avenue in Vredehoek, Cape Town, is named after Moses Chaim Mirvish. In 1908, he was brought to South Africa to be the minister of a synagogue then situated in District Six. He was the first fully qualified rabbi with smicha (ordination) in the entire Cape Colony.

In 1939, this shul moved to Vredehoek. Rabbi Mirvish became an icon of the Cape Town Jewish community, founding many of its organisations. On 17 August 1947, he collapsed and died on the steps of the Vredehoek Synagogue after officiating at a wedding. Some months after his death, the street alongside the shul was renamed Rabbi Mirvish Avenue by the city council.

MH Goldschmidt Avenue, just a few roads further up the mountain from Rabbi Mirvish Avenue, is the home of Herzlia Middle and High School. The street, formerly known as Mynor Avenue, was re-named in honour of the late Meyer Hirsch Goldschmidt, one of the founders and supporters of the school.

According to the South African Jewish Times in 1984, “The changing of a street name is seldom agreed to by city authorities, who acceded to the school’s request in view of the great contribution by Mr Goldschmidt.”

Also in the Cape, a number of streets were named by Jewish philanthropist Isaac Ochberg, who bought 17 hectares of land in 1929 in what is now Claremont, Newlands, and Bishopscourt. He named Balfour Avenue after the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which promised a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Angelina Avenue, Bertha Avenue, Isabel Avenue, Noreen Avenue, and Robinson Avenue are all named after family members. Princess Avenue may be after the pet name he used for his daughter Ruth, whose death at the age of 17 left him devastated.

Also in Cape Town, a number of roads in Camps Bay were developed and named by wealthy entrepreneur Isidore Cohen. One street, Rontree, is named after his son, Ronald, and his wife, Theresa. There is also a Theresa Avenue. There are streets named after Ronald’s children, Barbara and Amanda, and after his second wife, Susan. The story ends tragically: In 1970, Ronald murdered Susan in mysterious circumstances.

Cape Town roads Martin Hammerschlag Way and Solly Freedburg Street are named after city councillors, and both Louis Gradner and Fritz Sonnenberg roads are named after Jewish mayors. The SA Jewish Chronicle in 1935 reported that as mayor, Louis Gradner “always preached the doctrine of racial equality”. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on 12 September 1951 that, “Fritz Sonnenberg, a prominent figure in South African Jewry, was today elected mayor of Cape Town. He had been a member of the city council for 13 years, and served as deputy mayor during the past year.”

AZ Berman Drive in Mitchells Plain was named after a Jewish politician and civic leader. Born in Russia in 1894, he came to Cape Town as a young man and became a successful businessman. He entered the city council in 1932, and served for 42 years. In 1960, he was elected a United Party senator.

There is a Sol Cohen Road in the Cape that may be named after Dr Solly Morris Cohen, who was born in Cape Town in 1904 and became an expert on vascular disease. He was the first president of the Society of Vascular Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland.

Dr Edward Rubenstein Drive in both Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal are named after the doctor and Glen Anil property magnate. In turn, he named streets after family and friends as he developed numerous South African suburbs across the country, from Strathavon in Johannesburg to Zimbali on the Dolphin Coast, to Betty’s Bay in the Western Cape.

Many of these landmarks start with the word “Glen”, such as Glenhazel, Glen Ashley, and Amanda Glen, or “Danya”, which is a combination of the names of his grandchildren, Danny and Yaron. Minerva Street is named after his wife, who most people knew as Minnie, and Dayan Glen in the East Rand was named to honour Israeli general Moshe Dayan.

According to research done by Durban Jewish community member Colin Plen in 2001, three streets in Highlands North, Johannesburg, are named after Herman Joseph Rosen, a Jewish boy who fought for the British in the Boer War and was killed. “Rosen’s father went to the Johannesburg council and explained that he had lost his son in war. He would pay an amount of money if the council could find a way to commemorate the boy. So they named these three streets after him: Meyer, Joseph, and Rosen,” wrote Plen in Jewish Affairs.

Plen also reports that Langermann Drive in Kensington is named after Max Langermann. He was given the honour because he was chairman of Kensington Estates. In Sandton, there is a Fredman Drive and a Chabad Street, so called because there is a Chabad shul there. Fredman was a councillor and developer. In Boksburg, there is at least one street named after councillor Issie Kramer, and in Germiston, at least one named after councillor Mannie Baker. In Mindalore and Krugersdorp, there is a Geffen, Ruben, and a Saul Jacobs Street, he writes.

“In Roosevelt Park there is a Mendelssohn Road, named after the South African mining magnate and bibliographer, Sydney Mendelssohn. In Montgomery Park, there is a Langley Levy Street named after Joseph Langley Levy, who was editor of the Sunday Times, and a Max Michaelis Street named after the mining magnate.” Plen notes that property developers across Johannesburg named streets after family and friends.

In rural areas, there are numerous roads named after Jews. In Paarl in the Western Cape, there are Berman, Kaplan, Rabinowitz, and Zetler streets, and also a Synagogue Street. In Aliwal North near Bloemfontein, there is a Levy Street, named after the town’s first mayor, Benjamin Levy, and in Klerksdorp, there is John Berks Avenue, named after radio personality Jonathan Berkowitz, who was born there.