The three-month-long consultation process as part of the proposed renaming process of the town Louis Trichardt drew to an end last Sunday.
This follows after the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein earlier this year reversed the town´s name back to Louis Trichardt. The ruling of the Supreme Court was that when the town´s name had been changed to Makhado, there had been no proper and sufficient consultation by the council.
On April 12, the council of the Makhado Municipality took a resolution to restart the renaming process of the town´s name back to Makhado. On May 28, the mayor, Cllr Glory Mashaba, announced the names of councillors to facilitate the name change process and Cllr Thanyani Mudau was named as the chairperson of the committee.
The name change committee began with its consultative meetings by visiting traditional leaders on July 9 to July 13 within the four regions of the municipality, which are Vuwani, Waterval, Louis Trichardt and Dzanani.
The second phase of the consultative meetings was in the first week of August, with all the relevant stakeholders and structures within the same municipal regions.
The name change committee chairperson, Cllr Thanyani Mudau, said that the proper consultation process at the village and ward levels unfolded on August 11, earlier this year. He said that during the third stage of the consultation process, 13 individuals were given an opportunity to propose a name which they thought was proper for the town while giving a motivation therefor.
Mirror can reveal that when the name change committee went out to consult, it was faced with the challenge of a low turnout of people at certain areas.
The consultative meeting last Sunday ended at both ward 26 and 28. According to Mudau, the names that were proposed during their consultation process are Makhado, Tshirululuni, Louis Trichardt, Hlanganani and Soutpansberg, to mention but a few.
Mudau said that even though more names were proposed during the consultation process, as a committee they would submit only two names with more votes to the South African National Geographic Council very soon.
The chairperson further said that the committee would be going back to the regions to tell the people formally that the consultation process was over. He said they would start with the Vuwani and Waterval regions tomorrow, Saturday. On Sunday, he said, they will be meeting stakeholders and residents in the Louis Trichardt and Dzanani regions in various venues yet to be announced.
"In Vuwani, the meeting will be held at the Vuwani town hall, while at the Waterval regional meeting will be held at Bungeni community hall," he said.
Mudau, who hails from Tshirululuni Ha-Nesengani in Vuwani, said that the name change committee on October 27 will hold a meeting to brief members of the media, residents and all community stakeholders about the entire consultation process. He said the gathering will be held at the Louis Trichardt Sports hall. "As a committee, we´ve done what was expected from us. We will make our submission to the South African Geographic Council for consideration and recommendations and they will forward it to the Minister of Art, Sport and Culture, who will then approve the proper name of the town," he said. Mudau declined to reveal the leading names.