A political solution for the Pretoria/Tshwane name dispute should be found to accommodate minority groups, Freedom Front Plus said on Wednesday.

"The issue around the name of Pretoria is dragging along for many years now, and that alone is enough proof that the current one-sided approach by the ANC is not a solution," said Conrad Beyers, FF Plus councillor in the Tshwane metro.

"We need a mutually amicable solution that will solve the dispute once and for all. No solution is possible without the name Pretoria being retained in the name of the capital."

He said the Tshwane metro council had launched an international advertisement campaign referring to Pretoria as the City of Tshwane.

The party also said an agreement with Fifa's Local Organising Committee that the name Pretoria be retained in international marketing, was broken.

He said the local African National Congress leadership "apparently" does not have the vision to act in the interest of the country.

Confrontation and polarisation

"The name dispute in the capital has a countrywide impact, but the local ANC chooses the road of confrontation and polarisation at every juncture."

Spokesperson for the City of Tshwane, Antoinette Mostert said the campaign, which FF Plus was referring to, was an international television tourism campaign.

"Tshwane has worked with Southern Africa Direct to create a documentary informing tourists about the city's key attractions and assuring them about the quality of the transport, health and safety infrastructure," she said in a statement.

The documentary would be screened on Southern Africa Direct, a TV channel that broadcasts to over nine million Sky subscribers in the UK on Sky channel 270, as well as globally on the web.

The campaign would be supported with online video and interactive maps helping tourists explore South Africa's capital.

Sapa

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