Politicians in the South African capital voted last night to rename the city Tshwane and retain the name Pretoria for the city centre only.
The decision, marking a symbolic break with apartheid, was taken at a special meeting of the metropolitan council, which is dominated by the governing African National Congress.
"By embarking on this process and project of transformation, our country is making a clear distinction between the old and the new, the past and the present," Executive Mayor Smangaliso Mkhatshwa was quoted as saying during an emotive four-hour debate.
The city of two million people, established by white settlers in 1855, was named after Andries Pretorius, a leader in the Afrikaners' "Great Trek" into the interior of the country.
Tshwane, which means "we are the same," was the name used by some of the region's earliest African settlers. The South African Geographic Names Council is expected to approve the change when it convenes in October and begin the process of changing the city's name on maps.
The greater municipality, which includes other towns and townships, has been calling itself Tshwane for a number of years. But the capital has remained Pretoria on maps.
It is the latest in a series of geographic name changes since South Africa's first all-race elections in 1994 ended decades of white-minority rule.
The government says South Africans should not have to live in cities, towns and streets named after the people responsible for their racial oppression.
Opposition councillors argued the process was a waste of money, and said the move to rename Pretoria threatens to split the city along racial lines.
AP