Louis Trichardt

The town is named after the voortrekker leader Louis Tregardt; the original Venda name is Tshirululuni, and it is also informally known as Tshitandani. The whole region was known as Dzanani until 1946.

The name change process in Louis Trichardt was a long and rocky one. Early attempts to rename the town was denied by the South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC) because there was already a township called Makhado in the area. Authorities that wanted the change were not put off, and opted to simply ask the people of the township to change their name to something else. The name Dzanani was chosen, but when they tried to register the new township name the SAGNC informed them that there was another village named Dzanani in the province that had carried the name since 1965.

Again not dissuaded, the people of Dzanani were asked to change the name of their village, so that Makhado could change its name to Dzanani, and Louis Trichardt could become Makhado. Eventually Dzanani changed its name to Mphephu, and in 2003 the name of the town was changed from Louis Trichardt to Makhado.

The name "Makhado" refers to the western Venda king Makhado wa Ramabulana (b. 1840?) who ruled over the area from 1864 until his death in September 1895; his fortress was on the mountains immediately north of the city (less than 2 km away). Makhado played a role in resisting settlement in the area by the Boers, who labelled him the "Lion of the North." Not much is known with certainty about the history of the area before the arrival of the Voortrekkers, primarily because of limited fieldwork and incomplete records from the period, but archaeological and oral evidence together suggest that they arrived in the Soutpansberg area from the north by the early 18th century. The creation of Louis Trichardt in the immediate aftermath of the Boer military victory dislodging Makhado's son Mphephu (in late 1898) is however the primary source of consternation over the name: leaving it as Louis Trichardt is an affront to vhaVenda who feel it celebrates aggression towards a whole culture, and changing it to Makhado provokes consternation on the opposite side for precisely the same reason.

The name changing of the name Louis Trichardt to Makhado has attracted a lot of criticism from various groups in the region.[5] It has been described as "tribalism" by those who feel the town should have received a geographical name rather than what they perceive to be a political one.

One such group is the Hlanganani Concerned Group, a group consisting of Tsonga, Pedi and Indian residents. They consider Makhado an oppressor, who aggressively expanded his territory in the area by violently subjugating surrounding communities until the arrival of the Voortrekkers. The Soutpansberg Chamber of Commerce, various Afrikaner groups, and political parties such as the Democratic Alliance and Freedom Front have also spoken out against the name change.

In October 2005 the Louis Trichardt Chairperson's Association, an alliance of 51 organisations representing more than 80,000 residents of the town, fought the name change in the Pretoria High Court. They claimed that less than 1% of the town's total inhabitants were consulted about the name change and that a public meeting advertised to discuss the change was rescheduled without any notification, resulting in a very small attendance. They also held that Makhado was never the name of a person, and that the town Louis Trichardt didn't displace any other settlement in the area.

The Pretoria High Court dismissed their application in November 2005 but gave them permission to appeal the decision. In January 2006 the group decided to do just that, and the case will soon apply for a date to be heard at the Supreme Court of Appeal.

In September 2005, a statue of the Venda King was unveiled, while a statue of Louis Trichardt was removed and stored in a tool shed. The statue of Makhado was painted the colours of the old South African flag (orange, white and blue) only six days later, apparently by those opposing the name change. A suspect was later arrested, but released without charge. As of December 2006 nobody had been arrested in connection with the vandalism. The statue of king Makhado was cleaned while the statue of Louis Trichardt was later moved to a public library.

Just five months after the newly placed statue was vandalised, in February 2006, the old South African flag was found painted on the entrance to the Civic Centre. Road signs, street names and bridge walls had also been targeted. No arrests have been made in connection with the vandalism.

On Thursday, 29 March 2007, the Supreme Court Appeal (SCA) ruled in favour of an appeal to reverse the name change ordered in June 2003. The successful appeal was lodged by the local group, the Chairpersons' Association.

The SA Geographical Names Council met in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo, on Thursday 4 February 2010, to hear presentations on renaming the town to Makhado, again. The Chairperson's Association again lodged objections to the name change.

The Department of Arts and Culture announced the renaming of Louis Trichardt to Makhado in the SA Government Gazette on 14 October 2011,[6] a move that met with significant local opposition.[7]

An appeal was brought against this decision and was upheld in 2014, reverting the name once more to Louis Trichardt.[2]