There should be finality by June on whether Tshwane would be gazetted as the new name for the city of Pretoria.
|||There should be finality by June on whether Tshwane would be gazetted as the new name for the city of Pretoria, Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile said on Wednesday.
“I don't think it will take more than two months,” said Mashatile on the sidelines of the national workshop on the standardisation of geographical names.
Mashatile said that although the name Tshwane had been decided on, with the name Pretoria remaining as the name of a suburb, more consultation was needed.
“In my view there will be no harm to have one more consultation with people who have concerns,” he said.
“South Africans must decide if the capital city is Pretoria or Tshwane.”
The Freedom Front Plus, which is opposed to changing Pretoria's name to Tshwane, said in March it was in talks with the ANC over the renaming issue.
FF+ is also opposed to renaming streets in the city.
Earlier, Mashatile said people need not fear the transformative and inclusive exercise of renaming places in South Africa.
“We are not killing anybody, we are talking changing for the better,” Mashatile said.
But, people must become involved in the debates and processes of name changes and be initiators for name changes in their areas.
“We must make sure that we all agree on who we are, what we call ourselves,” he said.
“If you think KwaZulu-Natal's name is something you don't like, you obviously have to go to KwaZulu-Natal and participate in a process of renaming. If it will happen – it won't come from Pretoria.
“But let's not be gripped by fear because names must mean something to people.” – Sapa