The City of Johannesburg has unveiled extensions to the Mendi Memorial in Soweto’s Avalon Cemetery as a fitting tribute to the hundreds of Black soldiers who lost their lives when their troopship sank in 1917 during World War 1.
Speaking during the memorial service at the weekend, Councillor Vasco Da Gama, said the City of Johannesburg wanted to remember over 300 men from the area who lost their lives in the English Channel when the ship went down over 100 years ago on 21 February.
Da Gama said the upgrades and extensions are an appropriate tribute to the men who lost their lives. Two granite panels briefly tell the story of the dramatic sinking of the ship, and contain a map tracing the long journey the men travelled from their homes in South Africa to the cold, grey waters of the English Channel where some 607 Native Labour Corps members, nine officers and all the crew lost their lives.
Da Gama briefly outlined the background, saying: “Very little has been written, spoken or remembered about the soldiers of the SA Native Labour Corps who volunteered during both world wars. In 1916 while the Battle of the Somme was still in progress, the British government asked South Africa to recruit 10 000 Black troops to serve in labour battalions under British command in France. They were recruited from all over South Africa to be trained in Cape Town. From there they left on ships for France. The last ship to leave was the SS Mendi.”
Architect Brendan Hart, of Mayat Hart Architects and Heritage Consultants, said the idea was to create a memorial that was also an educational tool that helped to contextualise and add relevance to the story of the Mendi. They wanted something that people could interact with and walk through, as it forms the backdrop for the annual memorial service. He said: “With it being the highest point in Avalon Cemetery, it offers a great vantage point with a panoramic view south.”
Flo Bird of the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation said in doing the research a poignant moment was recognising one of the officers’ names: “He didn’t go down with the ship – he was a medical officer – but I actually knew his son. It somehow brings it closer when you know somebody’s name.”
Reflecting on the memorial service, she said: “I am very pleased that the story is there, once you see the story – and the map is important because it shows how far from home (they were). It’s a long way to go do die without being able to do what you thought you were going to do.”
The project to expand the memorial was started in 2016 and included representatives from interested parties such as the City of Johannesburg, the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation, the SA Legion of Military Veterans and the War Museum. A preliminary design and model of the upgrades were exhibited at the centenary commemoration service in 2017. The original memorial was unveiled in 1995 by then President Nelson Mandela and Queen Elizabeth ll.
Da Gama also stressed the importance of ensuring that monuments like these are well-maintained to show respect for those who are commemorated. He paid special tribute to the SA Legion for ensuring that the annual Mendi memorial services are held throughout the country – in Atteridgeville in Pretoria, Nelson Mandela Bay, Cape Town, Durban – as well as in Portsmouth in the United Kingdom.
Among those who laid wreaths were the military attaches from Ukraine, Japan, France and the United Kingdom as well as veterans’ organisations such as the Reserve Force Council, the World Veterans Federation and the SA Legion Kagiso Branch.
