Supporting new growth for Madiba

On Mandela Day, the Princess Vlei Forum held a planting event in our restoration site on the Elfindale side of the Vlei. Last year, we cleared the site of invasive vegetation such as kikuyu grass and Brazilian pepper trees, to make space for hundreds of indigenous plants which were planted by school learners and community members. We also created a new seasonal pond. (Read More) The area is thriving, and supporting chameleons, frogs, birds and insects, although low rainfall means that the pond is not as full as last year.
This year, we cleared more ground, and invited community members to devote their '67 minutes' for Mandela Day to putting new plants in the ground. 

About twenty volunteers came to join the planting, and we were joined by several people passing by on the new walkway, who happily paused their walk to put a plant in the ground. These included a few dozen who joined the African Solidarity walk organised
by the Ishraaq Solidarity Forum to show solidarity with people from other parts of Africa. Altogether, over 400 plants were put in of the following species: Searsia angustifolia; Orphium frutescens (Oxalis); Orphium frutescens  (Gladiolus quadrangulus); Elegia nuda (restios); Eriocephalus africanus and Zantedeschia aethiopicum (Arum lilies) 

• Thanks to the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust managed by Nedbank Private Wealth, the Kirstenbosch Branch of the Botanical Society South Africa and the Rowland Leta Hill Trust for supporting our restoration programme.