CULTURE-SOUTH AFRICA: What’s in a Name?

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

JOHANNESBURG, May 14 2006 (IPS) - A proposal to change the name of South Africa’s capital from Pretoria to Tshwane has sparked controversy.

Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan was last week quoted as saying that a decision on the name change would not be taken until all the implications of this move had been considered.

For Pretoria residents like Kallie Kriel, however, there is little to be gained by altering the city’s name – something of great cultural significance to him.

Pretoria takes its name from Afrikaner hero Andries Pretorius, who settled in the area in the 1830s. The city was named 151 years ago by Pretorius’s son and the first president of South Africa – Marthinus.

Afrikaners trace their roots to Europe, particularly Holland, from where their ancestors traveled to South Africa over 300 years ago.

“Pretorius was one of the first and great freedom fighters in Africa against colonialism (by British settlers). He should be recognised for it,” said Kriel, a spokesman for Pretoria Civil Action, an umbrella body for organisations opposed to the city’s name change.

In addition, he fears the change could affect Pretoria’s economy. “Pretoria is a well-established brand name. The name change could affect tourism, and it will cost 1.5 billion rands (246 million dollars) to implement the name change,” Kriel told IPS.

FW de Klerk, the last apartheid-era president, has also weighed in during this debate.

“Pretoria has a central and honourable place in our history. It is the symbol of the anti-colonial war that Afrikaners fought against the British empire, which was one of Africa’s earliest liberation struggles,” he said in a statement concerning the name change, in May last year.

But for black residents, retaining Pretoria as the name of the capital makes little historical sense.

“It defies all logic to name a city after a man with a bloody history,” Steve Redebe, a researcher at the Pretoria-based University of South Africa, told IPS.

While acknowledging that Pretorius is admired among Afrikaners for standing up to the British, he said the man was also responsible “for killing thousands of Zulu warriors at the so-called Battle of Blood River, where the river ran red with the blood of slain Zulus (in 1838).”

“This is not a man we should continue calling our national capital after, particularly after the end of apartheid,” Redebe added.

When racial segregation ended in 1994 following a negotiated settlement between whites and blacks, Nelson Mandela – South Africa’s first black president – called for reconciliation to reduce centuries-old racial animosity.

Tshwane is the name of a prominent Ndebele chief who settled in present-day Pretoria before whites set foot there.

The Tshwane Tourism Information Centre notes that the name is also believed to have been given to the Pretoria area by early inhabitants of the region – and that it means “we are the same” – or “we are one because we live together.”

Fred Nel, leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance’s Tshwane Caucus, told IPS that he believed a compromise could be reached on the matter.

Under this arrangement, the suburbs of Pretoria would be called Tshwane, while the inner city would remain Pretoria. “This will reflect the diversity of our city,” he noted.

The 152-member Pretoria city council voted for the name change in March last year – and the South African Geographical Names Council was supposed to approve the new name in October 2005, but didn’t.

“We understand that the South African Geographical Names Council will meet in July to discuss the issue,” Nel said. “We are anxiously waiting for it.”

Repeated efforts by IPS to obtain comment from the council were unsuccessful.

The final decision, however, will lie with Jordan.

“The fact that it has taken the minister one year to respond suggests the sensitivity of the issue,” Kriel said.

“If the minister goes ahead and renames the city we’ll take legal action,” he added. “There are people who feel strongly about Tshwane. But they should also recognise that there are people who feel strongly about Pretoria.”