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The FF Plus of Pretoria has thanked Dr. Pieter Mulder for his decisive role which he played in rescuing Pretoria's name and said that residents of Pretoria, as well as the whole of South Africa, will for a long time be grateful toward the FF Plus and its leader for this historic moment.

Pres. Zuma said in his reply in Parliament that he had talks with Dr. Mulder as FF Plus leader on 3 February of this year about the issue and repeated that a solution for the name changes and Pretoria's name has to be sought which would satisfy all parties.

The Friday following the discussion which Dr. Mulder had with the President (5 February) the proclamation in the government gazette which had announced the name change of Pretoria, was withdrawn.

The FF Plus in Pretoria said that Pretoria could now have been called Tshwane officially if the party's leader, Dr. Pieter Mulder, had not been in apposition to convince senior ANC leaders, including President Zuma, to rather follow the road of discussions and mutual respect with regard to the changing of the names.

According to Dr. Conrad Beyers, FF Plus councillor in the Tshwane Metro council, the time has now arrived for incisive talks between all relevant parties about a permanent solution and compromise over the name issue.

"This victory for the name of Pretoria confirms that the political influence which the FF Plus has at the highest levels, are starting to bear fruit. Political influence (in the form of Dr. Pieter Mulder's deputy minister's position) together with the active civil society (in the form of AfriForum) which exercises pressure on the government, could be a winning recipe for serving the interests of minorities," Beyers said.

The FF Plus has however emphasized that long term solutions for the name issue does not lie in court cases and open aggression, but in a permanent political solution which has to be found through discussions and mutual respect.