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Several interest groups will oppose the government's plans to rename South Africa's capital city Tshwane, it was reported on Wednesday.
AfriForum, the Freedom Front, and the National Taxpayers' Union said they were against the name change and that they would form a united front to prevent the government from carrying out its plan, Beeld reported.
Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane, and Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile said on Monday that the Pretoria name change issue had to be concluded by the end of 2012.
Freedom Front leader Pieter Mulder told the newspaper the proposed name change was a politically strategic move to score points in the run-up to the ANC's leadership elections in December 2012.
“Renaming a capital city is not something you conclude in a hurry. Reconciliation and co-operation are being pushed to the background for the sake of ANC interests. We will fight this on all levels, because it's unnecessary,” Mulder said.
Mashatile said he planned to hold meetings between the city council, AfriForum and other interest groups before a final decision was made. – Sapa
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zz, wrote
Avner Eliyahu Romm, wrote
I once heared that from someone who conducted a research on the history of Pertoria through the Internet. The results showed him that Pretoria was built as Pretoria by the Voortrekkers, without any historical clue suggesting that this city even existed before. Maybe there had been a little kraal nearby, called Kofi Annan or whatever. But Pretoria's original name was Pretoria. New historians, however, come along these days and re-write history as "facts".
coojo, wrote
@Democrat: Before Paul Kruger and his Sfrikaner Voortrekkers came to Tshwane and rename it Pretoria, there where people living and this place was called Tshwane, what about the history of those people that were displaced to make space for the ox wagons, isnt their history also important? Or is it because they are Black and insignificant?
EYE for an EYE, wrote
VIVA the ANC VIVA. Yes please change the name soon , before we become the worst run Metro in the world. I for one do not want Pretoria to associated with the WORST. PLEASE CHANGE THE NAME to Ekhya etc...........
pieterpieterpoepoeleater, wrote
Why not name it nelson mandela city, every second town city road river is named after him so why not one more ??
Avner Eliyahu Romm, wrote
There is a song called "We are marching to pretoria", so I guess soon it would be changed (and the DA would probabely sing it with zest) to "We are marching to Kofi annan", or whatever they callwant to call Pretoria...
democrat, wrote
It is nothing but bloody-minded triumphalism to change Pretoria to Tswane. I'm pretty certain that the Heritage Council will acknowledge that Pretoria is a major issue within the concept of 'non-material heritage' and that the National Heritage Resources Act will stop this silly move in its tracks. I thought that the greater Pretoria metro was already named Tswane. Surely that's a very suitable compromise between all parties? I'm not an Afrikaner but I am very well aware that the history of this city is entirely due to Afrikaner Voortrekker initiative, it being the capital of Paul Kruger's Transvaal Republic. Therein may be polarisation, but therein is historical fact, depth, and value.
Goro, wrote
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