Rewriting military history

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The memorial is on a 63-hectare piece of land, which is South African property acquired in 1920 by the South African government.

Delville Wood was chosen as a site to erect a national memorial because it is at Delville Wood that the First South African Infantry Brigade were engaged in one of the bloodiest battles of World War I.

The memorial commemorates South African soldiers who died in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

The Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans said the representation of Africans during the war is very minimal and it distorts the important role they played in various theatres of war.

“In the spirit of democracy, reconciliation, restitution and integration, the transformation of this national heritage is imperative, so as to ensure the rewriting of an objective, just and authentic South African military history.

“As part of our efforts to correct our history, the first member of the South African Native Labour Corps to perish in the Great War, Private Nyweba Beleza, has been (re-interred) to the museum, which now proudly marks his final resting place,” said the ministry.

It said the re-interment of Private Beleza has given further impetus in consolidating diversity and it will also “solidify efforts to bring the various South African groupings together”.

“It will further greatly assist in helping to remove the negative stigma attached to the Delville Wood Memorial that has been for a very long time seen as a dedication to a very small segment of the South African population,” the ministry said. – SAnews.gov.za