Pretoria name change going ahead: mayor
Pretoria is set for a name change following a long battle that went to the courts, city mayor, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, said on Thursday.
Pretoria is currently the city name, while Tshwane is the municipal name for the area.
Ramokgopa said that the name change was necessary to ensure social cohesion, News24 reported, with the majority of people in the city in favour of the change. He said those opposed to it were against transformation.
“With regards to the name change we have done public consultations and reviews in council and a resolution was taken that Tshwane should be the municipal name,” Ramokgopa said after delivering his state of the city address at Freedom Park.
“The person who has the last say is the national minister of arts and culture and we are still waiting for that. We are confident that it will favour the people because we are able to show everyone that it has gone through required procedures.”
“I don’t know of anyone who would want to repudiate this transformation agenda. I think it’s a route that all of us have to embrace and in that way learn to build a better future. What must preoccupy us is whether our spaces are safe and whether government is responsive,” the mayor said.
Afriforum have long defended the city’s current name for reasons of maintaining heritage. The group claims that public a participation process showed that more than 80% of participants were opposed to the proposed name change.
Tshwane is the authentic African name of the area, a name used by early inhabitants who lived near the Tshwane River under the leadership of Chief Tshwane.
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