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Those who died in military conflicts are honoured on
Remembrance Sunday, at the annual parade and service and wreath-laying at the
Cenotaph.
UNITY will be the theme of this year's Remembrance Sunday,
with the annual parade and service again taking place at the Cenotaph on
Harrison Street, in the city centre.
Taking the salute at a previous Remembrance Sunday (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)
Activities begin at 2pm on Sunday, 8 November with a
parade. For the first time, a troop of 25 pounder guns will fire two salvos.
The ceremony will also be broadcast nationally by SAFM, the radio station, for
those veterans unable to make it to Johannesburg on the day.
Unification of military veterans was chosen as the
theme, after more than 15 military organisations across the country were
amalgamated under one banner, the South African National Military Veterans'
Association (SANMVA), in September 2008. The Bophuthatswana Defence Force, the
Ciskei Defence Force and the Council of Military Veterans' Organisations -
which has more than 10 members under its wing - are among those now falling
under the SANMVA.
It represents nearly a million veterans in South
Africa. The government also heeded a call by military veterans for visible
representation in parliament, with the formation of the Ministry of Defence and
Military Veterans.
Parade
Remembrance Sunday will begin with a march-past by military
bands, the South African National Defence Force, military veterans, the South
African Police Service band and members of the emergency management services
drill squad, followed by the members of the community and some youths.
Military veterans will be recognised by the City and will
receive medals. Executive Mayor Amos Masondo will lead a group of dignitaries,
including senior SANDF officials, former service organisations and diplomatic
representatives in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph.
Reverend Brent Chalmers, a military veteran himself,
will lead an interfaith religious service. As is customary worldwide, people
will wear red paper poppies on their chests, lapels or collars. The red poppy represents
the lives lost in wars.
About 120 underprivileged children from the inner city will
attend the function. They come from Ikhayalethu Shelter in Braamfontein, which
caters for orphans and abandoned children, and Twilight Shelter for street
children in Hillbrow.
The national service takes place every year at the cenotaph
The National Remembrance Sunday Service has been held
at the Cenotaph since the inception of the War Memorial in 1926.
Freedom Regiments
It will be preceded by a Freedom Regiments Parade along
Mooki Street in Soweto on Saturday, 7 November, the second time that the parade
will be taking place in the township. The parade honours Joburg's Freedom
Regiments, those military regiments that have been given permission by the City
to march through its streets with fixed bayonets, colours flying and beating
drums.
This privilege is a symbolic token of trust placed in
a particular unit by the civilian population. This year, 12 regiments will take
part in the freedom parade. It will be held in support of 21 Battalion, which
has a long association with Soweto, having been given the freedom of entry by
the former Soweto City Council.
UmKhonto we Sizwe, the Military Veterans' Association
and the Azanian People's Liberation Army Military Veterans' Association (Apla MVA)
will participate.
Following the parade, there will be a wreath-laying
ceremony and a religious service at the Orlando Communal Hall. The Speaker of
council, Nkele Ntingane, the patron for the Freedom Parade, will receive the
salute.
Wreaths will be laid by the City of Johannesburg, the president
of the SANMVA, and representatives of Umkhonto we Sizwe, Apla MVA and Azanian
National Liberation Army (Azanla).
Armistice Day
Remembrance Sunday, now in its 83rd year, was first
held to mark the end of World War One. The Great War, as it was known, ended at
the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month - 11am on 11
November 1918. Called Armistice Day, it is observed on the closest Sunday to that
date.
Hoisting the colours (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)
It was hoped that the memory of the Great War would prevent
such slaughter from ever happening again. Remembrance Sunday is a global
commemoration, during which soldiers who died in the Second World War and other
conflicts are remembered.
In South Africa, the national observance has been held
at the Cenotaph since 1926. The Cenotaph is a replica of the monument in
Whitehall in London, designed by Edwin Luytens. It was first inaugurated as a
war memorial to South Africans who fell in World War One, which began in 1914
and ended in 1918. Inscriptions to those who died in World War Two were added
in 1947.
In 2002, Masondo unveiled an inscription to honour all
military heroes and victims of war: "The City of Johannesburg honours all
those who made the supreme sacrifice in all wars, battles and armed struggles
for freedom, democracy and peace in South Africa".
The SANMVA includes: Apla MVA, Azanla MVA,
Bophuthatswana Defence Force MVA, Ciskei Defence Force MVA, Transkei Defence
Force MVA, Venda Defence Force MVA and the Council of Military Veterans'
Organisations, which represents SA Legion, Memorable Order of Tin Hats or MOTH,
Gunners' Association, Sappers' Association, South African Air Force
Association, Naval Officers' Association of Southern Africa, SA Cape Corps
Regimental Association, St Dunstan's Association for SA War Blinded Veterans,
SA Jewish Ex-Service League, SA Infantry Association, South African Medical
Health Services Veterans' Association, Curamus Association, South Africa
Scottish Regiments' Association, Naval Association of South Africa, SA Armour
Association, Polish Combatants' Association of SA, Special Forces League,
Signals Association (Western Cape), South African Veterans' Continuation
Committee, Savannah Veterans' Association, SA Korean War Veterans' Association,
South African Military Veterans of Australasia, 32Bn Veterans' Association and
Soldiers' Forum.
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