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Prof Rodney Moffett receives prestigious award from SA Association of Botanists

22 February 2023 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

Prof Rodney Moffett, Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) and Top Research Fellow in the Afromontane Research Unit (2018-2019) on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus, was recently awarded a Silver Medal from the South African Association of Botanists (SAAB) at their 48th annual conference that took place in Polokwane.

Prof Sandy-Lynn Steenhuisen, Subject Head and Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus, says, “It was an absolute joy and honour to be able to nominate and present a SAAB Silver Medal to Prof Moffett, who is an iconic figure and friend in our department. I was so happy that he could receive his award in person, with his daughter visiting from the United Kingdom. He inspires my research group so much with his knowledge of plants of the Eastern Free State and through the wealth of specimens he’s contributed to the QWA herbarium.”

The conference with the theme, ‘Plants, Health and Prosperity’, was hosted by the University of Limpopo’s Faculty of Science and Agriculture under the School of Molecular and Life Sciences in the Department of Biodiversity.

Outstanding research contributions

According to Prof Steenhuisen, Prof Moffett received the Silver Medal Award for his outstanding research that contributed to the advancement of botany and plant sciences in South Africa.

Since his retirement, Prof Moffett has published a number of book chapters, books, reports, and articles on various aspects of fauna and flora.

He sole-authored eight books and authored/co-authored more than 36 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals covering mainly the taxonomy of plant genera such as Sarcocaulon, Rhus, and Searsia, and checklists of vascular plants and their medicinal uses for the Qwaqwa and Lesotho regions.

Around 2006, Prof Moffett pursued his passion to document and describe the ethnobotanical uses of plants used by the Basotho people of Lesotho and South Africa. His books focused, for instance, on the natural history and Sesotho names of the plants used by the Basotho of the Eastern Free State and their ethnobotanical uses, the taxonomic works on the grasses of the Eastern Free State (still the most detailed grass identification guide for the area to date), and the flora and fauna of the Clarens Village Conservancy (a field guide).

Prof Moffett has also published a scientific bibliography of the Drakensberg, Malotis and adjacent lowlands, which Prof Steenhuisen describes as “a mammoth task and one which he is continually updating and expanding, with another volume in preparation”.

Prof Steenhuisen, who nominated Prof Moffett for the Silver Medal Award, says that as a highly respected naturalist in the Qwaqwa region, he is continually consulted by conservation authorities, researchers, and postgraduate students on the flora of the area. He also regularly presents his research at garden and botanical societies.

Among the books he has published are Sesotho names of plants and animals and plants used by the Basotho (2010), A biographical dictionary of contributors to the natural history of the Free State and Lesotho (2014), and Meriana ya dimela tsa Basotho – Basotho medicinal plants (2016 and 2020). In 2020, he also published A Scientific Bibliography of the Drakensberg, Maloti and adjacent Lowlands.

Prof Steenhuisen states that Prof Moffett’s books are treasured resources for anyone working in the Maloti-Drakensberg area.

Best poster presentation

Joining researchers, postgraduate students, and experts from other universities and organisations at the conference, was the Plant Ecology Research Group of Prof Steenhuisen, her postgraduate students, and a postdoctoral fellow involved in invasive species and climate change research. Postgraduates from three other research groups (Plant Biotechnology, Proteomics, and Ethnobotany supervised by Dr Arun Gokul, Dr Rudo Ngara, and Prof Anofi Ashafa) on the Qwaqwa Campus also attended the conference.

Dr Makoena Moloi, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Plant Sciences on the Bloemfontein Campus, and her postgraduate students researching aspects of plant ecophysiology, were also present at the conference, together with master’s candidate Orateng Sedimo, who is supervised by Dr Lize Joubert, Senior Lecturer in the department. Sedimo presented his honours research and won a prize for presenting the best Honours poster in the category Molecular Systematics.

Besides being well-represented at the 48th SAAB annual conference and being awarded for its outstanding contributions to botany and plant sciences, academics from the UFS had the opportunity to learn from and network with some of the best scientists in the field. This included A1-rated scientist, Prof Steven Johnson from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, (Prof Steenhuisen’s supervisor for her PhD), and B2-rated Prof Anton Pauw from Stellenbosch University. Prof Johnson and Prof Pauw were respectively awarded a Gold and second Silver Medal from SAAB.

News Archive

UFS to investigate implementation of quality-monitoring system for SA food industry

2006-02-07

Some of the guests who attended the workshop were from the left Prof James du Preez (Chairperson: Department of Biotechnology at the UFS); Prof Lodewyk Kock (Head: South African Fryer Oil Initiative (SAFOI) at the UFS)); Mrs Ina Wilken (Chairperson: South African National Consumer Union (SANCU)); Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS) and Mr Joe Hanekom (Managing Director of Agri Inspec).
Photo: Stephen Collet

UFS to investigate implementation of quality-monitoring system for SA food industry

The University of the Free State (UFS) will be investigating the implementation of a quality-monitoring service for the South African food industry.

This was decided during a workshop to discuss the external quality monitoring in the edible oil industry of South Africa, which was recently held at the UFS.

Major role players in the fast-food sector like Nando's, Spur, Captain
Dorego's, King Pie Holdings, Black Steer Holdings, etc and various oil
distributors like Felda Bridge Africa, Refill Oils, PSS Oils and Ilanga Oils attended
the workshop. Also present was Mrs Ina Wilken, Chairperson of the South African National Consumer Union (SANCU) and key-note speaker of this workshop. She represented the consumer.

These role players all pledged their support to the implementation of this quality- monitoring system for the whole food industry.

The decision to implement this system follows the various malpractices reported in the press and on TV concerning food adulteration (eg the recent Sudan Red Scare), misrepresentation (eg olive oil scandal exposed in 2001) and the misuse of edible frying oils by the fast-food sector.

“One of the basic rights of consumers is the right to safe food. Consumers must be protected against foods and food production processes which are hazardous to their health. Sufficient guarantee of the safety of all food products and food production processes should be implemented. It does not help to have adequate food standards and legislation and there is no manpower to do the necessary investigation or monitoring,” said Mrs Wilken.

The South African Fryer Oil Initiative (SAFOI), under the auspices of the UFS Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, currently monitors edible oils in the food industry and makes a seal of quality available to food distributors.

“Last week’s decision to implement the quality-monitoring system implies that we will now be involving also other departments in the UFS Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences who are involved in various aspects of the food chain in an endeavor to implement this quality monitoring system,” said Prof Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS and one of the main speakers at the workshop.

Prof van Schalkwyk said that the main aim of such a system will be to improve the competitiveness of the South African food industry. “It is clear that the role players attending the workshop are serious about consumer service and that they agree that fraudulent practice should be monitored and corrected as far as possible. Although some of the food outlets have the capacity to monitor the quality of their food, it may not seem to the consumer that this is an objective process. The proposed external monitoring system would counteract this perception amongst consumers,” said Prof van Schalkwyk.

The workshop was also attended by representatives from SAFOI and Agri Inspec, a forensic investigation company collaborating with inter-state and government structures to combat fraud and international trade irregularities.

Agri Inspec has been working closely with SAFOI for a number of years to test the content of edible oils and fats. “Extensive monitoring and control actions have been executed in the edible oil industry during the past four years to ensure that the content and labeling of oil products are correct. Four years ago almost 90% of the samples taken indicated that the content differed from what is indicated on the label. This has changed and the test results currently show that 90% of the products tested are in order. However, to maintain this quality standard, it is necessary that quality monitoring and educational campaigns are continuously performed,” said Mr Joe Hanekom, Managing Director of Agri Inspec.

“The seal of quality presented by SAFOI should also be extended to include all the smaller oil containers used by households,” Mrs Wilken said.

The SAFOI seal of quality is currently displayed mainly on some oil brands packed in bigger 20 liter containers, which include sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, palm oil etc which are used by restaurants and fast food outlets. “Any oil type is eligible to display the seal when meeting certain standards of authenticity. In order to display the seal, the distributor must send a sample of each oil batch they receive from the manufacturer to SAFOI for testing for authenticity, ie that the container’s content matches the oil type described on the label. This is again double checked by Agri Inspec, which also draws samples countrywide from these certified brands from the end-user (restaurant or fast food outlets). If in breach, the seal must be removed from the faulty containers,” said Prof Lodewyk Kock, Head of SAFOI.

“It should however be taken into account that oils without a seal of quality from the UFS can still be of high quality and authentic. Other external laboratories equipped to perform effective authenticity tests may also be used in this respect,” said Prof Kock.

“It is also important to realise that any oil type of quality such as sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, palm oil etc can be used with great success in well controlled frying processes,” he said.

Further discussions will also be held with the Department of Health, the SA National Consumer Union and Agri Inspec to determine priority areas and to develop the most effective low-cost monitoring system.

More information on the UFS oil seal of quality and oil use can be obtained at www.uovs.ac.za/myoilguide

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
6 February 2006

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