ABSTRACT
Just these few points indicate that the position of Pretoria as a national capital could be seen as somewhat precarious. The largest arm of the government – the executive and
administration – is seated in Pretoria, and its numerous buildings certainly give a particular character to the city. But other powers are located at considerable distances (legislature and its pomp and ceremony in Cape Town – a much better known city around the globe; national judicial functions in Bloemfontein, and more recently at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg). This article suggests that Pretoria remains an incomplete capital: as Béhar (2014) puts it, with reference to Paris and its region, ‘the question of the capital . . . remains a matter for the state’ – and in the case of Pretoria or Tshwane, long-term dissonance and paradox have made it difficult for the state to ‘complete’ the national capital city.
