Wednesday, March 9 2005 12:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Durban: The South African city of Durban will honour Mahatma Gandhi by renaming a street after him, as part of the city's programme to erase its colonial and apartheid history.

The non-racism, non-sexism and non-discrimination sub-committee of the city council has decided to honour Gandhi and eight others who contributed to the eradication of colonialism and apartheid.

He will be honoured by having the Point Road on the Durban beachfront named after him. Durban is the latest of a number of towns and metros in South Africa that have honoured Gandhi in this way.

Gandhi, who practised law at one time in the city, conducted the passive resistance of "Satyagraha" against discrimination in South Africa before returning to India to lead struggle for independence.

The Point Road had been notorious for prostitution and drugs during apartheid days.

Those honoured besides Gandhi include Yusuf Dadoo, the first president of the now defunct South African Indian Congress and the South African Communist Party; Albert Luthuli, former president of the African National Congress and the first South African recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and two late white political activists Ruth First and Bram Fischer.

The speaker of the Durban Metro Council, Nomsa Dube, said that street re-naming was expected to be completed before June next year (2006). "The nine new street names, including that of Luthuli and Gandhi, were chosen after the committee had received proposals from members of the public," she said.

"All the nine names approved were those of who played a pivotal role in the fight against past injustices," she added.