Although the official name for the metropolitan area of ​​Pretoria was changed to Tshwane in 2005, Pretoria remains traditional and relevant in the South African and international context. Union Buildings is the seat of executive power and presidential residence of the republic. The historic Church Square brings together several government agencies and is considered the city's ground zero. Arcadia gathers most of the embassies and Hatfield is the student district, full of bars and restaurants, close to the campus of traditional University of Pretoria.

Vital to the nation both in apartheid era and today, the old symbol of oppression has become synonymous with multiculturalism. More provincial and less cosmopolitan than Johannesburg, with jacarandas and contradictions, Pretoria remains a fundamental piece for the understanding of South African nation.