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05 November 2020 | Story Thabo Kessah
Prof Moffett’s latest offering collates hundreds of mountain research material into one accessible reference book.

Prof Rodney Moffett recently published a new book focusing on various scientific articles published between 1808 and 2019. The book, A Scientific Bibliography of the Drakensberg, Maloti and Adjacent Lowlands, has 534 pages and covers material appearing in accredited journals, plus unpublished but traceable reports, documents, presentations, and dissertations.

“The scientific articles range from palaeobotany with 17 entries, to rock art with 502 entries, as well as 252 theses and dissertations,” said Prof Moffett.

He said it took 18 months to compile the book, typing the manuscript himself – mostly at night.

In the foreword, Dr Ralph Clark, Director: Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), says: “This bibliography is a labour of love, and will inspire a new generation to take up the baton for excellent research in this fantastic mountain system. We are proud to publish this under the ARU banner as a contribution to growing and consolidating mountain-passionate relationships in Southern Africa, and to encourage our journey towards developing a holistic understanding and sustainable use of these iconic mountain landscapes.” 

Other books

Prof Moffett is an honorary research fellow in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State, and an associate of the Afromontane Research Unit on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus. He was previously Professor of Botany on the Qwaqwa Campus when it was part of the University of the North, retiring in 2000. Since then, he has remained active, publishing scholarly works on ethnobotany and other natural history subjects.

His four recent books, also published by Sun Press, are: Sesotho Plant and Animal Names and Plants used by the Basotho (2010), A Biographical Dictionary of Contributors to the Natural History of the Free State and Lesotho (2014), Basotho Medicinal Plants – Meriana ya Dimela tsa Basotho (2016), and A Field Guide to the Clarens Village Conservancy (2018). A second revised edition of Meriana ya Dimela tsa Basotho – 

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UFS and Griqua National Conference work together
2009-03-04

 

Delegates from the Griqua National Conference (GNC) and role players from the University of the Free State (UFS) recently met on the South Campus of the UFS to put the objectives of a Memorandum of Understanding into practice. Some of the objectives are research, programmes and projects focusing on economic, educational, political, cultural/heritage and socio-social matters. “Research in different fields is important for the survival of the Griqua in South Africa and the UFS gives credibility to the Griqua’s research projects,” says Mr Cecil le Fleur, Chairperson of the GNC’s Council of Chiefs. According to Mr le Fleur, the GNC wants to work with the UFS because the institution reaches out to the communities of the Southern Free State. There is also mutualistic cooperation in this area that is of benefit to both partners. “Together with the UFS we will also be investigating the feasibility of the production of a documentary film on the role of the Griqua in the central interior, its political models and the role the Griqua played in the establishment of white settlers in this area. We also want to investigate and implement other relevant points of tangency,” says Mr le Fleur. Here are, from the left: Mr le Fleur, Ms Elizabeth le Fleur, Chairperson of the Cultural Group, which is one of the focus areas of the cooperation agreement, and Rev Kiepie Jaftha, Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS.
Photo: Lacea Loader

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