Khangale Makhado

Khangale Makhado

Signs bearing the hotly-disputed name of Makhado will not be removed and replaced with that of Louis Trichardt, the Limpopo roads and transport department has decided.

The signs showing the Limpopo town as Makhado were put up after the municipality changed the name from Louis Trichardt.

Celebrations for the town's new name had hardly died down when the Pretoria high court found that the process of renaming of the town was flawed because no adequate consultations were conducted with affected communities, and ruled that the name be changed back to Louis Trichardt.

Among those opposed to the new name were the Zoutpansberg Chamber of Commerce and the Hlanganani Concerned Citizens Group. Following the court decision, there have been calls that the Makhado signs be removed and replaced with Louis Trichardt.

The department's Boiki Tsedu said yesterday they had noted concerns about the road signs which bore the disputed name of Makhado, but believed the name-change process had to unfold without any bias from the department.

"We've stopped replacing Louis Trichardt signs to allow due process to be finalised," he said.

"We wish to state without any fear of contradiction that this decision is informed by the need to make sure that our actions are compatible with our declaration to use the taxpayers' money wisely and sparingly," Tsedu said.