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News - Date: 10 October 2003
THOHOYANDOU – Representatives of the Limpopo Geographical Names Council attended the launching of the Vhembe District Municipality's Geographical Names Committee, during a ceremony held in the former parliamentary chamber in Thohoyandou on Monday.
A committee of twenty people was elected and the District Mayor, Mr Samuel Moeti, said that the occasion was a first ever in the Vhembe district, to afford its own people an opportunity to have a voice in the naming of their geographical features.
"Some names in the district are blasphemous and insulting, foreign and wrongly spelt," said Mr Moeti. Moeti said that the Vhembe district municipality is facing the challenge of transformation and the elected committee has a critical and responsible role to play in consulting the public, investigating and making proposals on geographical names of the district.
"The committee would be working as a tool to educate the public about the essence and process involved in the naming and re-naming of geographic features of our district," said Moeti.
He said the committee should act on its legal mandate and also take into account the past history of geographical naming. This committee should strive to redress the imbalance caused by lack of representation in the previous naming system through direct involvement in all affected communities and stakeholders in reviewing the names.
"The new geographical names committee must ensure standardisation of names through proactive engagement of all stakeholders and role players," said the Mayor.
The provincial representative, Ms Agnes Mawela, said the committee must make the public aware about the features in the Vhembe District Municipality. She added that there is a 57 000 backlog in the naming of geographical features in the Limpopo province.
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