LOUIS TRICHARDT – "The renaming of the town of Louis Trichardt is now a closed chapter. There is a Council resolution to this effect and up to now my response would be to say the new name of the town is Makhado."

These were the words of the Makhado Municipality's Acting Director of Corporate Services, Mr Peter Magwala, after the highly controversial name-changing issue once again came to the fore this week. This follows a notice regarding public hearings to be conducted on Sunday, 9 June, at the Makhado College of Education, on the changing of the name of Makhado Town in Nzhelele. By doing this, Council will be able to continue the process of renaming Louis Trichardt to Makhado - a process which was halted earlier this year mainly because a town with the name of Makhado already exists.

Council's plans to change Louis Trichardt's name have suffered numerous setbacks. One of these was when their request to change the name was referred back to them by the South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC). This happened amidst various allegations that the correct procedure had not been followed in deciding on a new name for Louis Trichardt. One independent councillor, Cllr Masuka, even went as far as putting himself on record during a monthly council meeting that he did not support the renaming process as it had been handled undemocratically from the start. It was widely argued that Council had decided on a new name for the town before any of the communities were asked for their input.

According to Act 118 of 1998 all applications for changing a place name should be directed to the SAGNC for approval before it is sent to the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology for submission in parliament. In referring Council's request back to them, the SAGNC emphasised that a town with the name of Makhado already exists in the Nzhelele area and recommended that Council either opt for a name other than Makhado or change the name of the existing town of Makhado to something else.

Mr Magwala on Wednesday said that Council decided to rather change the name of the existing Makhado Town to something else, than to choose a name for Louis Trichardt other than Makhado. When asked who had initiated the process of changing Makhado Town's name, Mr Magwala said that they had received a written request from the Mphephu Territorial Council in Nzhelele, asking Council to initiate the process, even prior to the SAGNC sending back Council's initial request. One of the fundamental requirements when trying to change a place name is that the request must come from the people living in that town. He added that Council had already spoken to all role-players in the area and that all of them agreed that they wanted to change the name of Makhado Town.

It also became clear that the public hearings to be conducted on Sunday are seen as a mere formality to complete the process. Mr Magwala said that the report on the changing of Makhado Town's name would be brought before Council on 25 June during the next monthly council meeting. Here it will be approved, after which Council will send its resolution to the SAGNC for a decision.

The SAGNC's next meeting is scheduled for 25 July and, says Mr Magwala, Council is hoping to get a response from them before the end of August. It can be expected that Council will resume the changing of Louis Trichardt's name to Makhado as a matter of urgency.

When asked to comment on allegations whether or not the correct procedure had been followed when deciding to change Louis Trichardt's name, and whether or not Council had received a request from Louis Trichardt residents that they wanted the name to change and whether or not the residents had been consulted in the process, Mr Magwala said: "Our view and understanding is that the town is not a town only of the people staying in town. We take the town as a town of all inhabitants (the whole municipal area)." He said that they had received a volume of proposals from some areas inside the municipality, but unfortunately some of the other areas had not brought their submissions.

"You will agree with me that consultation will never be sufficient. You will always have one or two people who will say that they were not contacted," Mr Magwala said.

He concluded by once again emphasising that the process of renaming the town has been finalised and is closed.