A proposal by the mayor of Beaufort West, Ashley Sauls, calls for the renaming of the municipality to – possibly – Dubai-West.
This is according to a report carried on News24. Sauls, from the Patriotic Alliance, says this is important as part of his initiative to ‘rebrand, restore and reposition’ the municipality.
The municipality consists of four towns – of which Beaufort West is one – and the mayor has expressed a wish to rename the municipality to be more inclusive. As a town, Beaufort West would retain its name.
Sauls said that people living in the other towns felt underserviced: ‘They feel like the step-children of the municipality. Whenever there is talk of services, or development emphasis is put on Beaufort West, the town, the other three towns are excluded.’
Sauls said: ‘I propose that we review our name and consider inclusive names that speaks to who we are and where we are going, like for example, among other names, “Dubai-West”.’
It is not apparent why the Dubai reference was chosen, although it might signify the intention of turning the municipality into a shopping hub.
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