Armed Forces Day: men of SS Mendi honoured
Address by the President of the Republic of South Africa and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA, on the occasion of 5th Armed Forces Day held in Durban yesterday
‘These men joined in a quest for adventure and a sense of volunteerism’
PORTSMOUTH: The words of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika rang out from the flight deck of the SAS Amatola yesterday as South Africa and Britain remembered the centenary of the deaths of 616 South African soldiers in the country’s worst maritime accident.
Led by Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe, wreaths were thrown by the 10 descendants off the starboard side of the South African Valour class frigate into the English Channel just off the Isle of Wight after Navy bugler Chief Petty Officer Theo Joemath sounded The Last Post. Then, after a two-minute silence, Reveille.
Throughout the proceedings, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon circled around the wreck, after sailing with the Amatola early yesterday from Portsmouth.
Everyone was standing to attention for the playing of the national anthems when the ship’s sound system failed. The descendants, thronged by serving South African military personnel, broke the silence by spontaneously singing Nkosi, continuing even when the sound was restored.
Chief of the Navy, Vice-Admiral Mosiwa Hlongwane, opened the proceedings earlier by reciting the now-legendary exhortation by the Reverend Isaac Hlongwane Dyobha to dance the death drill as the mortally struck Mendi plunged below the surface.
“Exactly 100 years ago and in the same place today, we commemorate these brave souls who gave their lives without a shot being fired or a bayonet being drawn. These men joined in a quest for adventure and a sense of volunteerism,” Hlongwane said of the men of the South African Native Labour Corps, who either went down on the Mendi or perished in the frigid winter water after the SS Darro rammed the troopship just before 5am on February 21, 1917.
The crew of the Amatola were following in those very footsteps of adventure, all volunteers who had signed up to serve their country, Hlongwane said, and if necessary, to die.
It would have been fitting for the Amatola’s sister ship, the eponymous SAS Mendi, to have been the designated ship, but she remains laid up in Simon’s Town undergoing a refit. The Mendi had met HMS Nottingham in 2004 over its namesake’s wreck to lay wreaths, but the SAS Amatola was a fitting replacement, having officiated during the 90th anniversary of the sinking, said Hlongwane. The frigate is named to remember a bitter war between the Xhosa nation and the British empire in 1852 in what is today the Eastern Cape.
“Many of the men on the Mendi were in fact from the same region,” Hlongwane said.
“Today we take the opportunity to thank the descendants of these men who gave their lives for a country that did not even regard them as citizens,” singling out Dyobha’s great-great-granddaughter Natalia Sifuba for a special mention.
Hlongwane also used the opportunity to remember the navy’s own disaster when the SAS President Kruger rammed into the SAS Tafelberg on February 18, 1982, taking 16 sailors to the bottom as she sank.
“It’s our greatest tragedy to this day. We mourn these sailors who, too, left a legacy of courage in the face of insufferable odds.
“Unlike 1982, the men of the Mendi will never return to their native soil.”
He also recalled the deaths of navy personnel in Durban last Friday, noting they had died going to the aid of others.
Navy Chaplain, Captain (Reverend) Lulamile Ngesi, quoted from Psalm 107, “The sailor’s psalm”… “Those who go to the sea in ships… they have seen the works of God.”
Africa, he said, prided itself on the men of the Mendi for “making men of African steel and African timber”, resting spaciously below.
“We thank Almighty God for all they were and all they still are. Their unfulfilled dream and hopes are ours now.”
MINISTER of Defence and Military Veterans Mapisa-Nqakula; Premier of KwaZulu-Natal Willies Mchunu; ministers; deputy ministers; MECs; present mayor of the eThek-wini Municipality, councillor Zandile Gumede and all mayors and councillors present; the Chief of the SANDF; generals, admirals, officers, warrant officers, NCOs; members on parade; military veterans of World War II present here today; descendants of the patriots who died in the SS Mendi; fellow South Africans; I greet you all on this important occasion, our country’s Armed Forces Day.
Let me begin by extending our deepest condolences to the families of the three naval officers and three staff members of the Department of Public Works who lost their lives tragically late last week at the Naval Base Durban.
We received the news with great shock and sadness, occurring just as preparations were at an advanced stage to celebrate Armed Forces Day.
We are with the families at this difficult time. Their loss is our loss. Compatriots, today we celebrate the 5th Armed Forces Day.
Five years ago, we decided to use the 21st of February each year as Armed Forces Day to celebrate the contribution of the people’s defence force to the consolidation of democracy and peace in our country.
We chose the date of the sinking of the SS Mendi, so that the day on which so many paid the supreme price for peace should be used to honour our men and women who are prepared to lay down their lives if need be, to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic, and its people, our soldiers.
This Armed Forces Day has a special meaning in our country, because we are marking the centenary of the sinking of the SS Mendi troopship.
On February 21, 1917, the SS Mendi ship was chartered by the British government as a troop carrier to serve in World War 1, carrying 823 members of the 5th Battalion.
They had completed 34 days of the voyage from Cape Town to England, and were now on their way to France to the war, when the tragedy struck in the English Channel.
The SS Mendi was almost cut in half by a much bigger ship, the SS Darro, which was bound for Argentina. Six hundred and sixteen South Africans died in the disaster, mostly black South Africans.
Black people had volunteered to join World War I in order to fight against fascism. They were ahead of their time.
They were internationalists who loved peace and justice. They also joined the war believing that their contribution would lead to better treatment back home after the war by their colonial masters.
Unfortunately, their sacrifice did not earn them any respect from the rulers of the time. They were not allowed to carry weapons and were to be utilised as labourers rather than as fighting soldiers.
They were also never decorated or awarded any medals at the end of the war.
That is the painful history we come from, a history of brutal and blatant racism and colonialism.
The sinking of the Mendi is the tragedy second only in scale to the tragedy at Delville Wood in France the year before in 1916, when 776 men of the South African Battalion died holding the wood over six days.
We travelled to France last year to pay tribute to those who fell at Delville Wood and to ensure that black soldiers are honoured and recognised in the South African monument to the war in that country, on an equal footing with the white soldiers.
The new monument in France honours all our soldiers, black and white. Together today, we restore the dignity and humanity of the black soldiers who perished on that fateful day. We salute their courage, bravery and commitment. We salute their quest for a more equal and just world, for the better world we are still working to achieve 100 years later. We also salute the men of the Mendi because they promoted the unity of the South African people.
We remember the timeless words of Reverend Isaac Wauchope Dyobha, who said: “Be quiet and calm, my countrymen. What is happening now is what you came to do… you are going to die, but that is what you came to do.
‘‘Brothers, we are drilling the death drill.
“I, a Xhosa, say you are my brothers… Swazis, Pondos, Basotho… so let us die like brothers.
“We are the sons of Africa. Raise your war-cries, brothers, for though they made us leave our assegais in the kraal, our voices are left with our bodies.”
In recognition of the tragedy, among the national orders, the highest honour to be bestowed by South Africa is the Order of Mendi for bravery.
Through his award we will continue to honour these men and their sacrifices throughout our lives and from generation to generation.
Compatriots and friends, in memory of the selfless and brave soldiers of the Mendi, today we salute the men and women of the SANDF.
We take the Armed Forces Day parade and celebration to a different province each year.
The ceremony was held in Atteridgeville, Tshwane, in 2013, Bloemfontein in 2014, Potchefstroom in 2015, Port Elizabeth in 2016 and Durban in 2017.
On this important day, as commander-in-chief, let me inform the thousands of our soldiers, on behalf of the entire South African population, that your work is highly appreciated.
We thank you for answering the call to serve. We have full confidence in you. Armed Forces Day is an important feature of our national calendar. It provides an opportunity to promote better understanding of the SANDF and its role in the consolidation and defence of our democracy and our people.
Our soldiers get out of the barracks and showcase, to the people they are serving and protecting, the capability of the Defence Force and its state-of-the-art equipment.
We trust that all our people are now assured that the SANDF is combat ready! Many have enjoyed watching the various displays around eThekwini.
The people have been able to see what the various components of the SANDF do, from the navy, to the air force, army and military health services – and even our colourful ceremonial guard and our talented musical choirs and bands in the defence force.
Armed Forces Day also provides an opportunity for our youth to learn about careers in the defence force.
Through the Military Skills Development System, the SANDF has continued to recruit healthy and fit young people to join the South African National Defence Force.
They can be artisans, doctors, nurses, engineers and whatever they want to be within the Armed Forces. Over the past three years the SANDF has recruited over 11 000 young people into the ranks of the defence force.
Importantly, the SANDF also supports other government departments in their community development work. The SANDF has trained 6 000 students who are part of the National Rural Youth Service Corps on behalf of the Rural Development and Land Reform.
The leadership develop- ment programme is designed to expose youth in rural areas to discipline, community development, leadership and critical life skills training.
A similar programme with the Department of Social Development has also been supported by the SANDF through training.
The SANDF, in partnership with North West Province, has launched a youth agriculture pilot project in the areas where the Defence Force has its footprint.
This is but one example of community upliftment projects that our armed forces are involved in.
On this important day we also acknowledge the contribution of the SANDF when there are disasters, be it floods or fires such as the fires that engulfed the Western Cape Province over a long period.
As we speak, the SANDF has been involved in disaster management in the wake of Cyclone Dineo.
An Oryx Helicopter is on standby at Air Force Base Hoedspruit to cover both Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces with some operational members deployed at the Provincial Joint Centre in Mpumalanga.
The situation is being closely monitored and immediate reaction is appreciated in the case of Disaster Management activities.
When it comes to their core business, our soldiers continue to work tirelessly to defend the borders of the republic.
The SANDF continues to support and roll out the “Maritime Security Strategy” along the eastern seaboard, in the Mozambican channel, in order to counter piracy.
The presence of our troops along the border also helps to curb crime. Members of the SANDF recover illegal weapons, stop illegal migrant crossings and have recovered stolen vehicles, stock and contraband goods and dagga among others.
The SANDF also plays a key role in our foreign policy, anchored on the promotion of peace and security in the continent in order to create conducive conditions for economic development.
The African Union has taken a decision that we must silence the guns in Africa by the year 2020. South Africa plays its role in the fulfilment of this goal.
We have deployed more than 3 000 members of the SANDF in the interest of contributing to peace and stability.
We acknowledge the hard work of our troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Together with our friends and allies they are standing under the UN – Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) against armed rebels in the eastern DRC.
In other parts of the DRC – where tensions continue to simmer, they are responding to ensure that peace is main- tained so that people and citizens of that country can live in a safe and secure environment.
We will continue with our involvement in our mediation efforts, peacekeeping operations, and peace-making initiatives in Lesotho, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Somalia and Libya.
We have lost soldiers in some of the peacekeeping missions in the DRC, Central African Republic or the Sudan.
We will always remember their selfless contribution to the quest for peace in our continent. Compatriots,
every single member of the defence force is an integral part of our nation. As a nation, we salute you all.
We also salute the men who lost their lives when the SS Mendi sank. May we continue drawing inspiration from their selfless commitment and sacrifice.
Let me thank all who have contributed to the excellent arrangements of Armed Forces Day and SS Mendi commemoration.
We thank the South African Army in particular, which is leading the celebrations this year.
May we all continue to work hard and tirelessly to build a united, peaceful, secure and prosperous South Africa.
Happy Armed Forces Day to you all!
I thank you.
A CENTURY ago, life at sea was rather different. Among the lower deck ranks were those of trimmer, carpenter, fireman (stoker) and others, all with their job descriptions in keeping with shipboard life at the time.
Thus witnesses at the inquiry into the sinking of the steamer Mendi in February 1917 and the subsequent loss of 646 lives were drawn from across the spectrum of surviving members of the ship’s complement and from surviving troops who were aboard when she was lost.
At the time of the disaster, Mendi and her sister ship Karina were operated by Elder Dempster Line, whose ships brought general cargoes to West African ports and anchorages, returning to Britain with bagged cocoa beans, copra, tim- ber and some minerals. Some Elder Dempster vessels traded between the Cape and West Africa.
The 1905-built steamer had left Liverpool in October 1916, carrying the usual cargo of consumer goods, machinery and steel to West Africa, where she was fitted out as a troop ship. At Calabar, she embarked Nigerian troops for service in the former German colony of Tanganyika, returning to Cape Town to pick up 824 members of the “African Labour Battalion” destined for France where WWI, with its dreadful trench warfare, was at its height. She also loaded military cargo.
After calling at Lagos, Freetown and Plymouth, she headed for France to disembark the troops. Hours before she was abeam St Catherine’s Point on the Isle of Wight, fog shrouded the English Channel and she reduced speed.
Built in 1912 for the UK-Argentina passenger and meat trade, Royal Mail Line’s twin-screw steamer Darro (initially also in the Elder Dempster fold) had brought a full cargo to Britain prior to taking a consignment of meat to France, presumably for the troops.
While the ship was in Le Havre, the chief officer discovered that about 8m of water was in number 2 hold, forcing the ship to dry-dock for inspection. A large hole was discovered in her starboard bilge tank, the product of her hitting an under- water object that had also caused the leak into the hold.
After temporary patching, she was permitted to sail to Liverpool for permanent repairs, and, anxious that his ship should reach Merseyside as quickly as possible, the master ordered her to steam at full speed, despite the growing fog bank in the English Channel.
Without lights and making no fog signals – perhaps because her master deemed it best to operate in a blackout-silence mode, given the wartime conditions – Darro hit Mendi on the starboard side, crushing much of the steel around number 1 hold where hundreds of soldiers were accommodated.
The collision between the two ships was tragic as 646 men died, some killed by the impact of the collision, others trapped below deck as the ship sank, while hundreds perished without trace.
The loss of anyone in such tragic circumstances is to be lamented, and it is right that the sinking of Mendi a century ago should receive special focus, especially as many of the troops – including their chaplain, Revernd Isaac Dyobha – and members of the ship’s complement displayed true heroism to help others.
One hopes that politicians will refrain from exploiting the loss of the ship and so many men, that they will point to the heroes, and will emphasise the virtues of sacrifice – even the sacrifice of time, of energy and material sacrifice for the good of others.
That would be asking a lot of some of our politicians!