Any other name

last updated 8 January 2015

Pretoria, South Africa

Residents of Pretoria, South Africa’s administrative capital, are arguing over a plan to rename the city after an African tribal leader. Nationwide, officials have been replacing Afrikaans and English place names, reminiscent of the colonial and apartheid eras, with indigenous names. Pretoria was named for Andries Pretorius, an Afrikaaner pioneer who defeated Zulu warriors in 1835. Until recently, most whites wanted to keep that name, while blacks preferred the name Tshwane, proposed by the African National Congress party. But two local tribal leaders said this week that Tshwane, a minor tribal king in the 1600s, was a nobody who didn’t deserve to have a large city named after him. The city’s Web site has already adopted the new name; it’s unclear whether it could now change back.