Pretoria is a city in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government. (Cape Town is the legislative capital and Bloemfontein the judicial capital). Pretoria is the central part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities including Centurion and Soshanguve). There have been proposals to change the name of Pretoria itself to Tshwane, and the proposed name change has caused some controversy.