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A sombre ceremony marked Remembrance Sunday, during which the soldiers who
died on the SS Mendi were honoured.
Paying tribute to South Africa's fallen heroes: Zanele Mbeki, the first lady; Johannesburg's executive mayor Amos Masondo; Nkele Ntingane, the City's Speaker and Solly Shoke, South African Army chief Lieutenant General
(Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)
W
ITH military precision, hundreds of soldiers paraded down Harrison Street in
downtown Johannesburg in honour of South Africa's fallen heroes.
Participating in the parade on Sunday, 11 November - Remembrance Sunday - at
exactly 2.30pm were members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF),
military bands, Freedom Regiments of the City of Johannesburg, military veterans
and officers from the South African Police Service (SAPS). They were joined by
the Johannesburg Student Council.
Following the parade, an interfaith religious service was held at the
Cenotaph; government officials, military veterans, soldiers and learners were
among those who paid their respects to all the South Africans who have died in
wars and conflicts, including the struggle for democracy.
This year, a special tribute was paid to the soldiers who died in one of
South Africa's worst military disasters, the sinking of the SS Mendi during
World War I. In all, 616 men from the South African Native Labour Contingent
died when the steamship SS Mendi sank in the English Channel on the way to
France in 1917, along with 33 crew members.
Among the dignitaries present at the service were Executive Mayor Amos
Masondo; Zanele Mbeki, the first lady; Mavela Dlamini, the City manager; Nkele
Ntingane, the City Speaker; Solly Shoke, the SANDF chief lieutenant-general; and
Thandeka Shongwe, junior mayor of Joburg.
Senior Chaplain in the SANDF, Mantsi Mohapi, assisted by Abbas Hlatswayo,
Rabbi Ron Handler and Pandit Sharma, led the service. A two-minute silence was
observed in honour of those who died in the line of duty with special emphasis
on those who died on the SS Mendi.
Masondo noted that Remembrance Sunday was set aside to honour those South
Africans who made the supreme sacrifice in wars and conflicts, including the
struggle democracy. However, the day could also be used to address the
challenges facing the country.
The government had taken steps to commemorate those who have died in the line
of duty; in 1996, the City rededicated the Cenotaph memorial to all those who
died in all wars and armed conflicts, including the struggle for democracy in
South Africa, he said.
Johannesburg's junior mayor Thandeka Shongwe and junior speaker Palesa Nombula observing Remembrance Sunday
Masondo noted that the men of the SS Mendi had also been honoured by the
South African Navy, which had among its fleet the SAS Isaac Dyobha, a
warrior-class fast attack craft, and the SAS Mendi, a valour-class frigate. The
ship had also lent its name to South Africa's highest award for courage, the
Order of Mendi, which was bestowed by the president on South African citizens
who had performed extraordinary acts of bravery, he added.
Masondo quoted Reverend Isaac Wauchope Dyobha, one of the heroes of the
Mendi, who calmed the dying men by saying: "Be quiet and calm my countrymen, for
what is taking place now is what you came here to do. We are all going to die,
and that is what we came for.
"Brothers we are drilling the death drill. I say here and now that you are
all my brothers. Xhosas, Swazis, Pondos, Basotho and all others, let us die like
warriors. We are the sons of Africa. Raise your war cries my brothers, for
though they made us leave our assegais in our kraals, our voices are left with
our bodies.”
The honours concluded with a solemn wreath-laying ceremony; Mbeki laid the
first wreath, followed by Masondo and then representatives of foreign countries,
the SANDF, SAPS, South African Navy, other military bodies and members of the
public.
Remembrance Sunday was first held 85 years ago and is held annually on the
Sunday closest to 11 November, or Poppy Day, the date in 1918 on which the
armistice was signed that ended World War I, the Great War.
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