capital city
Luvuyo Kakaza
A Mail & Guardian editorial (“Rename Pretoria Mandela City”, June 18 to 24) has found favour with politicians at the Greater Pretoria Metropolitan Council and the Pretoria City Council.
Max van der Wath, a councillor at the Pretoria City Council, said the idea of renaming Pretoria Mandela City has merit. “It will show that we have embraced the values for which Mr [Nelson] Mandela received international recognition. It will also help the debate on whether Parliament should be brought to Pretoria and become the sole capital city of South Africa,” said Van der Wath.
“The name recognition of Mr Mandela will spark the interest of businesspeople and tourism.”
Commenting on how the idea will be received among the Afrikaans residents of Pretoria, he said: “Young Afrikaners especially realise that they cannot compete and remain part of mainstream politics on the basis of numbers. It is time to become proactive and review options, including political alliances. We are more inclined to make our own history than to cling to things of the past.”
Van der Wath raised the idea at a meeting of the city council ad hoc committee charged with changing street and place names in Pretoria.
The committee will meet soon to discuss the idea. The African National Congress has also proposed that Church Square be renamed Madiba Square.
If the idea is approved, Van der Wath said, the name can be changed as part of the millennium celebrations for Pretoria that are already being planned around Mandela. The former president has been invited to open a permanent art exhibition featuring work by top South African artists.
Deputy chair of the ad hoc committee and ANC councillor Sandy Lebese said the committee will discuss the idea, but no formal proposal has yet been made to the council. He said, however, that he personally supports the idea. “It will be the honour for Madiba to get the status for his contribution to bringing democracy in the country. The proposal will have to be discussed by all political parties before it can be presented to council.”
Lebese said to his knowledge, none of the parties, including the ANC, had taken a formal position on the matter.
He confirmed that the M&G’s editorial had sparked the debate.