Maathai left 'a lasting legacy'

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Mongezi Mtati

PRETORIA: Chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Achmat Dangor, says the late professor Wangari Maathai has left a lasting legacy in the work she has done to create awareness and promote the protection of the environment.

The Kenyan environmental and social activist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner died on Sunday, 25 September 2011, of cancer at the age of 71.

In sending deepest condolences to the family and friends of the late founder of the Green Belt Movement, Dangor said: "It was with great sadness that we learned today of the passing of this exceptional environmental activist.

"Her work with the Green Belt Movement in Kenya and as an activist for civil and women's rights in Kenya and beyond received worthy recognition internationally when she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2004.

"We were honoured in 2005 to have had Prof Maathai, then Deputy Minister of Environment in Kenya, deliver the Third Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture."

Dangor went on to quote passages from the speech delivered by Maathai at the lecture: "We need people who love Africa so much that they want to protect her from destructive processes... There are simple actions we can take. Start by planting ten trees. We each need to absorb the carbon dioxide we exhale."