A rose named ‘Nelson Mandela’ launched ahead of V-Day
HOUGHTON – The late former President of the republic, Nelson Mandela, is yet again honoured.
In one of the first events in the year-long celebration of the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, a rose named after him was launched at the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) in Houghton.
CEO at the Foundation, Sello Hatang, said the Nelson Mandela 100 programme centres on the values of resilience, service and care, embodied by Mandela [during his lifetime].
“The values of service and care appear to be diminishing in contemporary South Africa, but I hope [this rose] would serve as a reminder that we are because of others.”
Gauteng Premier David Makhura, who was also in attendance, told the gathering that there was no better way to honour Mandela’s legacy than to return to the path he chose for South Africa, which draws on democracy and good governance, among other things.
“If roses are about love, public service is about service to the people,” said Makhura. “We in government should be accountable. Public service is about the love of our people, not about serving ourselves but about serving the people of South Africa.”
He added that the death of more than 140 mentally ill patients after the Gauteng Department of Health ordered their transfer from Life Esidimeni facilities to several unlicensed non-governmental organisations had left him with ‘a great deal of shame’.
Horticulturist Keith Kirsten, who led the rose’s development, said the idea for the plant came to him in 2000, while on a flight to New York when he happened to be sitting next to Achmat Dangor, the then CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The idea was shelved for various reasons until 2014 when the Foundation approached him about it.
“I’d like to see us plant lots,” said Kirsten of the rose.
“The [rose] is disease-resilient and is a tall, orange-vermillion prolific floribunda which grows to more than a metre tall in good conditions. It is suitable for any sunny position”, Kirsten said.
The rose is available for purchase from Ludwig’s Roses and Malanseuns Pleasure Plants.
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