An unnamed street in Bergvliet, behind the Sherwood Shopping Centre, is going to be named Craythorne Lane in memory of the late Dr Donald Craythorne, who was chairman of the Bergvliet Meadowridge Ratepayers’ Association (BMRA) for 17 years.
This decision came at the suggestion of the BMRA, which wrote to the City of Cape Town in June 2018 last year, opposing the street being referred to as the “Sherwood Link”.
The BMRA said that the street was more than a link between the shopping centre and the parallel street, and naming it after Dr Craythorne would be a reminder to his family and community of his service.
The City approved the name in July 2018 last year, and residents are now awaiting erection of the posting of signage.
The street lies between Childrens Way and Syringa Road.
Dr Craythorne was the City of Cape Town’s senior deputy city administrator until he retired in 1991. Shortly after, he was a consultant on local government to the Department of Constitutional Development and in 1992 prepared policy proposals.
He visited local authorities and persuaded them to unite into non-racial authorities.
In 1993, he was chairman of the National Polling Arrangements Task Team, which was responsible for the logistics of the 1994 elections.
In 1997 he was also appointed as the chairman of the Western Cape Municipal Demarcation Board.
From December 2000 to January 2002, Dr Craythorne worked as a consultant for the Cape Town city council, with the task of setting up its sub-council system and drafting the Cape Town Sub-council By-law, 2001. He also drafted the City’s first Ombudsman By-law.
He was a lecturer at the University of Cape Town UCT, Stellenbosch University and Cape Technikon in various public- administration-related courses.
He is the author of Municipal Administration – a Handbook and the Local Government Law Digest“; both published by Juta & Company Ltd, and numerous conference papers and studies all relating to municipal government.
He dedicated his life to serving his local community and province and served on the BMRA until his death.
After visiting the street, his wife, Winnie Craythorne, said she hoped that the City would clean up the lane and tar up the corner of it which had been slightly damaged.