The Red Disa
Resplendent beauty
The Red Disa flower – Disa uniflora Bergius – is the second element incorporated in the masthead of the Gorinhaiqua Cultural Council. Its dramatic red blossoms, is an indigenous and endemic plant, growing in the moist kloofs of Hoerikwaggo (Table Mountain) and other mountains of the Overberg and Cedarberg regions. This beautiful member of the orchid family is also the official floral symbol of South Africa’s Western Cape province.
We believe that this three-pointed flower, called the Pride of Table Mountain, symbolises the relationship between the Most High, humans and Mother Earth. It’s therefore not surprising that this beautiful orchid blooms in the shadow of Hoeri’kwaggo. We believe that above and beyond everything is God who preserves humanity and nature with loving kindness. This relationship is depicted by the triangular Red Disa as a reminder to respect God, fellow human beings and nature. The ongoing exploitation of nature and people is therefore an abomination.”
-Dr. Willa Boezak
Text from Struggle of an Ancient Faith: the Khoi-San of South Africa.
Cape Town: Bidvest Data, 2017.
