Pta name-change 'not costly'
2005-03-08 20:59
Pretoria - The process of changing Pretoria's name to Tshwane would not cost the metropolitan council R1.5bn, said mayoral spokesperson William Baloyi.
"The figure of R1.5bn was an estimate arrived at in the report by academics on the name-change process," he said on Tuesday.
"The actual cost to the council will be far less than R150 000," he said, echoing Tshwane mayor Smangaliso Mkhatshwa's words on Monday.
The Tshwane City Council voted on Monday to retain the name Pretoria for the city centre only, and the name Tshwane would refer to the greater metropolitan area.
The council authorised the municipal manager to organise all the legal and administrative procedures to register the geographical area that constituted the municipality as a city with the name Tshwane.
This would include registering the name with the SA National Geographical Names Council.
Baloyi said the costs of the name change - which included changes to signs, maintenance costs and general transformation - already had been budgeted for by the council.
The Democratic Alliance said at the council meeting the money would have been better spent on service delivery.
Mkhatshwa replied that service delivery in the city was above average.
- SAPA