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Pretoria-Tshwane?

Chubb

International Regular
I read in the Independent yesterday that Pretoria is going to be renamed Tshwane, after an African chief. What does this mean for Centurion Park? or, for that matter Pietermaritzburg, Pochefstroom and the other SA grounds?

I thinks it's slightly worrying. It's not like Pretoria was there before the Afrikaners is it? It's like Harare being named after Chief Neharare, and a lot of Zim grounds like Kwekwe, which used to be called Que Que.
 
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Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Well Centurion Park isn't actually Centurion Park, of course, it's now SuperSport Park - the town Centurion (having previously had some horrible Apartheid-tainted name) was actually renamed after the ground.
 

Chubb

International Regular
I think if the name of the ground meant so mush to locals that they decided to name the town after it it should still be Centurion Park. Damn sponsors.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Yep - there are all sorts of sponsored stadiums that have caused havoc.
This one is, indeed, particularly sad, for the reason I mentioned.
 

Langeveldt

Soutie
Thats bloody awful, just checked the news :(

My favourite city in the world, gaah.. Why the hell is Pretoria remotely offensive? I can see why they got rid of Verwoerdburg, but this is just so pointless..

Apparently Pretoria is still Pretoria though

I've got a map of Port Elizabeth, which is fairly new, apparently the airport where Im doing my flight training this year is still called Hendrik Verwoerd lughawe.. Surely they would have changed it?
 
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Chubb

International Regular
Maybe they will. I don't understand this renaming because it's an Afrikaner town and to ignore the culture of a section of your population, no matter what their previous sins, is not really fair. The Germans didn't rename Berlin because of Hitler, did they?

If it was an African town that was taken over by Europeans, then it might make sense.
 

Langeveldt

Soutie
I hope they come to a comprimise. After all there is nothing wrong with the present setup where the area is called Tshwane but the city in the middle is still Pretoria..
Sheesh, I could never ever imagine not calling it Pretoria and I'm not even an Afrikaner.. The opposition to the proposed change would probably cover the racial spectrum though..
 

username1234

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
it sound's to me like it's just another move to get rid of the afrikaner's who built the city and turn it into another jonhanesburg.
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
username1234 said:
it sound's to me like it's just another move to get rid of the afrikaner's who built the city and turn it into another jonhanesburg.
Is that like Desmondhaynesburg? ;)
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
This is going back donkey's years, but I have vague recollections of the ANC saying that when there was majority rule in South Africa the name of the country would be changed a la Zimbabwe/Rhodesia.

I can't recall what the proposed new name was tho &, obviously, the idea has gone by-the-by now with the ANC having been in power for over a decade.

Any posters of a similar vintage to me remember this too or did I imagine it?! :happy:
 

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