UK PM May hands over SS Mendi bell to President Ramaphosa
Endorses SA’s land reform plans
IT WAS a historic day at Parliament yesterday as British Prime Minister Theresa May presented President Cyril Ramaphosa with the SS Mendi’s bell that was found in the English Channel a year ago.
“We are forever grateful for the sacrifice of the 600 people who died on their way to join the Allied forces on the Western Front,” May said. She said the day was significant as it signalled another example of the close bond the UK shares with South Africa.
The SS Mendi is known as one of the worst maritime disasters. The SS Mendi was a British steamship of 4 230 tons that was built in 1905. On February 1917, a large cargo steamship, the SS Darro, collided with the SS Mendi in the English Channel. The SS Mendi sank, killing 646 people, most of them South African troops.
The complement comprised 602 black soldiers, five white soldiers and 17 NCOs. It has been reported that, based on the wide recruitment area of the South African contingent, they had been selected for their skills, and not just as manual labour.
Many are believed to have worked in the mining industry.
The bell was apparently found wrapped in a plastic bag left anonymously for BBC reporter Steve Humphrey last year.
The SS Darro, which was far larger than the SS Mendi and weighed 11 484 tons. An inquiry into the sinking of the ship found Darro had failed to lower lifeboats, leaving the soldiers to drown. The captain, HW Stump, was later handed a one-year suspension of his master’s certificate. The story of the SS Mendi became a symbol of racial injustice in South Africa.
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DANCING gamely with schoolkids and meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday launched her three-nation African tour by pledging to make Britain the biggest investor in Africa from the developed world.
With Britain due to leave the European Union in March 2019, May is seeking to bolster Britain’s ties with other regions around the world, notably Africa.
As part of that strategy, May is visiting three of Africa’s largest economies – South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya – along with her trade minister and 29 business leaders.
May used her visit to Cape Town to announce her government’s first postBrexit trade pact. She confirmed that Britain intended to carry over the EU’s current partnership with six southern African countries – Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique.
She also announced that the British government would invest £4 billion (R73bn) in African economies, without giving details.
“I am committed to Africa and committed to using every lever of the British government to support the partnerships and ideas that will bring benefits for generations to come,” May said in a rainy Cape Town at the start of her tour that is being promoted under the slogan “UK-Africa: Partners For Opportunity”.
May has high ambition, envisioning Britain becoming the biggest investor in Africa from the world’s major industrial economies – the Group of Seven that also includes the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Only China would be ahead of Britain.
“By 2022, I want the UK to be the G7’s number one investor in Africa, with Britain’s private sector companies taking the lead in investing the billions that will see Africa’s economies grow by trillions,” said May.
In response to questions, she endorsed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s controversial land reform plans.
“The UK has for some time supported land reform in South Africa that will be a legal, transparent and democratic process,” said May.
She said that from previous discussions with Ramaphosa, she was convinced it would not be a “smash and grab” process but one responsibly designed to encourage economic growth.
May’s support for Ramaphosa’s plans for land redistribution is dramatically different from that of US President Donald Trump, who last week was critical of the policies in a tweet.
May later met Ramaphosa in Cape Town. – AP