The magnitude of the rift and accumulating tension caused in the community by the ongoing defiant tampering with the name of Louis Trichardt was highlighted dramatically last week when the latest meeting in connection with the repeated proposed name change ended in chaos and important stakeholders walked out in protest.

Actions described as blatant tribalism, and a "partisan, impudent" chairperson (Cllr TK Mudau), ruined the meeting which took place last Wednesday in Louis Trichardt at the insistence of the Limpopo Provincial Geographic Names Committee.

The meeting was arranged by the Makhado Municipal Council, after their repeated official request to change the name of the town Louis Trichardt was referred back by the Provincial Geographical Names Committee with a directive that Council’s name change committee should first meet with the Chairpersons Association. This followed after Council’s initial name change effort failed dismally, due to a lack of sufficient consultation. The Chairpersons Association (CA), which, throughout the initial process, was pointedly ignored by Council, indicated in an earlier meeting with the Provincial Committee that the present repeated "consultation process" was once again seriously flawed and in fact a total farce and a shameless effort to deceive the public at the expense of the taxpayers.

The intensity of the destructive divisions caused by the Makhado Municipal Council’s insistence on a one-sided and highly contentious name change for the town surfaced early in last week’s attempted meeting which, the CA emphasized, could in no way be construed as belated "consultation."

In what was described by a senior observer at the meeting (ex-MP and South African ambassador, Mr Thomas Langley) as an astounding display of insolence, partisanship and efforts at prescriptive manipulation, Cllr Mudau (chairman of Council’s name change committee) ignored his own rules for the meeting, as well as the official agenda and treated especially Shangaan members of the meeting with shameless contempt. When he could no longer ignore a respected Shangaan member of the meeting, he insulted him by referring to him as "old man" although the man had been properly introduced at the beginning of the meeting. When another Shangaan member referred to the name change effort as tribalism, the member was ordered by Mudau to retract the remark. When he refused, the Shangaan member was ordered to leave the meeting. The rest of the members of the Chairpersons Association then also left the meeting, after putting it on record that Mudau’s behaviour reflected the municipal council’s objectionable attitude in the whole name change effort, which could be seen as a racist and tribalistic disregard for the cultural heritage of the various cultural groups in the community and as treating any critical thinking with contempt and total intolerance.

"We cannot believe the arrogance that the ANC Councillors have demonstrated towards the community. We urge our councillors to rather resign from their posts since they are not competent to handle serious matters, as this meeting regarding the name change has shown," was the comment of the Democratic Alliance, following the meeting. The DA, through their spokesperson, Mr Brian du Plooy, also warned that "this is a serious matter that will definitely be considered by the DA on a national level."

The meeting agreed on the agenda, which included an item where the CA Chairperson, Mr André Naudé, would address the meeting. Naudé started his address by giving background where he referred to letters that served to explain the points that he wanted to make. When he referred inter alia to a letter in respect of a policy in terms of cultural heritage that the municipality should have formulated, he was interrupted continuously for almost an hour by Mudau, who criticised Naudé’s way of address, disallowing him to speak.

"It was shocking today to see how our municipal leaders rule these people in an autocratic manner, whereas their approach should be totally democratic. Cllr Mudau wanted to write my address for me. It was once again very clear that the ideas and contributions of the public are dealt with in a totally contemptuous manner," Mr Naudé said after the meeting.

Cllr Mudau was asked after the meeting why he did not allow Mr Naudé to deliver his address and why he had allowed other discussions when it was Naude’s time to deliver his address.

"The CA failed dismally to raise the concerns that they are having. Mr Naude’s address should refer to certain topics and he should not be reading letters. There was no discussion; we were debating the way he is supposed to put his input," Cllr Mudau said.

Concerning the tribalism issue, the CA said afterwards that the Makhado Municipality was conducting vengeance politics.

"They are polarising cultural groups against each other and are creating cultural xenophobia within our country," Naudé said.

Regarding the name change, Naudé said that the CA was convinced that the name of the town would not change because "this process is three times more corrupt than the previous one and no court will be able to sanction it".

Naudé said that the heart of democracy is being attacked by the politicians.