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Mail & Guardian

Ss Mendi

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The fallen: The Cenotaph and two statues in Cape Town are in remembrance of both World Wars, showing the Western Front, the East African Campaign and the Battle of Delville Woods. Photo: Jaco Marais/Getty Images
1ST SOUTH AFRICAN INFANTRY BRIGADE

Poppy Day: When did we forget to remember?

The act of remembrance is the recognition of the futility of war and mourning the loss of men and women whose future ended too soon

  • Shaun Read
12 min read
Feeding the mourners: The outside cooking area at Martha’s funeral, with charcoal-stained, drie-voet pots on the fire. (Tshepiso Mabula)
FIGHTERS FC

Mourning for Martha

A family gathers to bury its matriarch. Side simke emhlabeni, sibe nawe ezulwini (dust to dust)

  • Tshepiso Mabula
4 min read
The SS Mendi was rammed by the far-larger Royal Mail packet-boat SS Darro which, following a government inquiry, had failed to lower lifeboats, leaving the men to drown. (John Gribble Collection and Tim Couzens Collection)
SS MENDI

SS Mendi bell to return to SA

The relic from the wartime maritime disaster is set to return home

  • Gemma Ritchie
1 min read
The outcome of the ANC’s long-awaited KwaZulu-Natal conference was a win for the Thuma Mina crowd. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
INVESTEC CAPE TOWN ART FAIR

SS Mendi ritual breaks new ground

"I am one of these womxn. We have been called to witness and to heal the memory of the SS Mendi".

  • Faye Kabali
  • Kagwa 1
6 min read
The SS Mendi was rammed by the far-larger Royal Mail packet-boat SS Darro which, following a government inquiry, had failed to lower lifeboats, leaving the men to drown. (John Gribble Collection and Tim Couzens Collection)
SS MENDI

Dismay over ‘missing’ Mendi medals

The centenary was ‘soulless’ after plans to give medals to 607 soldiers were shelved

  • Lloyd Gedye
7 min read
Some of the men of the SS Mendi.
JACOB ZUMA

A hundred years later, no medals for 607 drowned soldiers

The soldiers who drowned on the SS Mendi in 1917 were supposed to be honoured with medals of honour in February. The president never signed the order.

  • Lloyd Gedye
7 min read
SS MENDI

Fallen soldiers of SS Mendi dragged into battle

The fated SS Mendi has been remembered, ignored and revived for political gain.

  • Stephanie Nieuwoudt
6 min read