A meeting regarding the consolidation process for the name change of Louis Trichardt on October 27 was held at very short notice.

The meeting in the ground floor council chamber of the Makhado Municipality was scheduled for 12:00 but started much later, due to the slow arrival of attendants. When 24 attendants had arrived, the programme commenced.

A request from the floor that the meeting be postponed "because there was not a quorum" was not entertained. The meeting was presided over by Cllr TJ Mudau, chairperson of the Name Change committee

Cllr Dudley Malete reported that 37 wards and 189 villages had been included in the road show to consult with the public.

"If you can compare this with the previous one, there is a 400% increment," Cllr Malete said.

"It has been a long and winding road, an intensive engagement, Saturdays and Sundays, we did not rest. We thank all those people who attended. This is democracy and we are very democratic. Many stories were written as though we are committing a crime. We are not taken aback by a few individuals," Malete said.

The preliminary report listed the 37 wards, the number of people that voted in each ward and a breakdown of the proposed names and votes. In total, 16 405 people voted of which the majority voted for Makhado. Other names included Louis Trichardt, Tshitandani, Hlanganani, Tshirululuni, Zoutpansberg, Songozwi, Hlamalo and Rionde. Municipal official Rufus Karidzha refused to let attendants leave with the report.

A set of 32 questions by the Chairpersons Association (CA) was circulated but not discussed or answered. The heading of the document read "Questions and input with regard to the name change for 11th August 2007." One objection against the set of questions was that the questions should have been asked at the consultation meetings. At the meetings at the show grounds and the council chambers on August 11, however, the questions were not allowed or not answered.

"Naudé is in the roll call at the showground. We have been taken for a ride. How do you become part of the process and then go back?" Cllr Malete said. Mr André Naudé, chairperson of the CA, was not present at the meeting of August 11, but at the information session on August 4 when the questions were also not allowed. Another speaker referred to the set of questions as an exam paper that would keep the meeting busy the whole day.

"We don’t even know who these chairpersons are," another speaker said.

"We cannot entertain these questions since these people are not here," was said.

The CA did not attend the meeting because of the "short notice and the flawed process."

Other stakeholders like the Soutpansberg Ratepayers Association also did not attend, due to the insufficient notice.

Copies of two newspaper articles by Matodzi Makananisa were circulated as well as an article compiled and researched by Dr M Nemudzivhadi, entitled From Tshirululuni, (Ha- Makhado) Louis Trichardt to Makhado. The meeting on Saturday was conducted mostly in Venda.