SS Mendi: In honour of every life sacrificed for our freedom
21 February 2017
My fellow South Africans,
On this day, one hundred years ago, our country suffered its most devastating maritime disaster when 616 South Africans perished in the cold waters of the English Channel.
607 of these victims were black South Africans enlisted in the 5th Battalion of the South African Native Labour Corps – a workforce sent to assist the British war effort in the First World War.
These men were told by the South African government that they could not enlist as soldiers and they were denied the right to carry weapons. But this did not stop more than 80,000 black and coloured South Africans from volunteering their service over the course of this brutal five year-long war.