Nelspruit kept for 2010
2009-10-20 20:06
Pretoria - Mpumalanga’s capital has changed its name from Nelspruit to Mbombela but will retain its old name for the 2010 World Cup, the city's 2010 marketing manager said on Tuesday.
“Speaking football the city will be referred to as Nelspruit and the municipality as Mbombela,” said Ronnie Moyo.
Nelspruit is one of the host cities for the 2010 World Cup and has signed a host city agreement with FIFA.
The World Cup matches would be played at the Mbombela Stadium.
Moyo said there would be confusion if the city was also referred to as Mbombela during the 2010 World Cup.
Arts and Culture Minister Lulu Xingwana recently approved the name changes of some towns, which saw Nelspruit changing to Mbombela.
An official at the Mbombela municipality was clueless about the name change.
“What, when did that happen? [I] have no idea of the name being changed,” she told Sapa.
In a notice in Friday's Government Gazette, Xingwana approved name changes of various towns in Mpumalanga, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
In Mpumalanga, Belfast had changed to eMakhazeni, Waterval Boven was now Emgwenya, Machadodorp changed to eNtokozweni, and Tweefontein, a village in KwaMhlanga, changed to Phumula.
A river in the lower Umfolosi in KwaZulu-Natal, Umhlatuze, changed to Umhlathuze after the spelling was corrected.
A suburb in Johannesburg, Rietvlei Village, changed its name to Zoo Manor.
- SAPA