Kruger National Park: South Africa debates changing name of world-famous reserve

Some question whether the 19th Century Afrikaner leader should still be memorialised.

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The vast wildlife sanctuary, called the Sabi Game Reserve at the time, was re-christened in 1926 to honour Paul Kruger. He was president in the late 19th Century of what was known as the South African Republic, which forms part of what is now the east of South Africa.

For Afrikaners, descendants of 17th Century European settlers, Kruger is revered as a hero who led the resistance against British colonialism.

But for the majority of South Africans, he is viewed as a relic of the country's racist past, as he was one of those responsible for driving black Africans off their land and excluding them from having a say in running the republic.

Many South African cities, towns, roads and other major infrastructure have been given new names since the end of the legalised system of racial discrimination, known as apartheid, and the beginning of the democratic era in 1994. Though sometimes controversial, the decisions have been justified as a way to break with what went before – both the apartheid and colonial era.