Pretoria just a suburb - ANC

2007-08-07 19:26

Johannesburg - The Tshwane-Pretoria name change "is neither here nor there", the African National Congress in Gauteng said on Tuesday.

ANC Gauteng secretary David Makhura said the party believed Tshwane was the capital.

But it was still a "matter of process" to make this "attitude" a reality.

In the past the ANC had been very considerate of people opposing the name change. He said for example the central business district of Tshwane remained Pretoria.

Makhura acknowledged there was a dispute about the name change. But delays in finalising it were only technical.

"Now we have taken a firm view."

He said while the party was willing to follow due process, the need for certain names to change was not questioned.

City of Tshwane

Makhura said it was up to the ANC to avoid the "provocation" of groups like Afriforum, which opposed the name change.

There were people amenable to change in Tshwane, he said.

He said groups like Afriforum were only sensitive to one side of South Africa's history, while the ANC looked to acknowledge many different sides of the past.

For example, the party would look at how to represent the history of struggles of Afrikaners, he said.

On Monday the Freedom Front Plus said it, along with Afriforum, would apply to the high court to clarify the legal position of the name of the capital city.

Last week, City of Tshwane spokesperson Console Tleane confirmed plans to change road signs from "Pretoria" to "Tshwane" or "City of Tshwane".

However, these plans were at best "still a discussion that might well lead to concrete plans", he said.

Tleane confirmed the municipality regarded Pretoria as a suburb within the city of Tshwane.

- SAPA