What remains of Pretoria is a ”cadastral area” registered in the deeds registry as a township, the City of Tshwane metropolitan council said on Wednesday.
The council’s head of legal services, Mpho Caleb Ronald Makopo, made the statement in an affidavit filed with the Pretoria High Court in answer to a notice of motion of an urgent application for an interdict against the pending change of Pretoria’s name on road signs to Tshwane.
Makopo said in his affidavit that the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), one of its councillors and AfriForum were premature applying for an interdict because no decision had been taken to change road signs.
”The introduction of new sign boards is still at a discussion and conceptual level. There is no implementation plan as alleged by the applicants,” he said.
However, he added that signs would in future be changed.
”The intended route and guidance sign boards are not only for use in the future to guide travellers and mainly tourists to the City of Tshwane, but most importantly and urgently the anticipated tourists for the 2009 Fifa Continental Cup and 2010 Fifa World Cup,” he said.
The FF+ and AfriForum said they would bring the urgent application about the road signs pending further court action over the city’s name.
The notice of motion states that the parties would further ask the court to declare the South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC) the ultimate authority to decide the possible change, and not the provincial government.
They would also ask the court to rule that the City of Tshwane was only applicable to the municipal name and not the geographical area.
Makopo said in his affidavit the applicants would fail in their main application as the council did not need to approach the names council or the minister, and that the name had been changed in 2000 by the Gauteng minister of local government.
”[The] process of naming of the City of Tshwane or any other municipality does not envisage further registration with the SAGNC as part of its validation and use,” he said.
”What remains of Pretoria is a cadastral area registered in the deeds registry as a township. Pretoria has no municipal status and, as such, no capacity to place, let alone maintain, any sign boards or infrastructure. It is part of the City of Tshwane and falls under the governance by the council of the City of Tshwane,” the affidavit states.
The case will be heard on Tuesday August 28. — Sapa