Pretoria and Tshwane can co-exist as the names of South Africa’s capital city and its metro, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe told an audience in the city this week.
”The two could co-exist,” Mantashe said.
This emerged from a statement by the African National Congress on Thursday.
It said Mantashe addressed ”a packed meeting, mainly of Afrikaners” in Centurion on Tuesday night as part of the party’s ”inclusive South Africa programme”.
Mantashe also sought to assure his audience that the Springbok emblem was not under threat.
”The Springbok remained the official emblem and the trademark of the national rugby team; the Protea is the official national sporting emblem,” he said.
”There was no reason why the two could not co-exist.”
Efforts to rename the city has raised the ire of the Afrikaner community, who want the name preserved as part of their heritage.
The issue has triggered more than one court application by Afrikaner interest groups for the name to be retained.
Mantashe said the focus of discussions with the community were alleviating poverty, creating jobs and developing economic opportunities.
The secretary general also heard complaints about poor service delivery and ”unacceptable levels of crime”.
He told the community the post-Polokwane ANC leadership was ”determined and committed” to ”turning around” the situation. – Sapa