DA commemorates SS Mendi tragedy
DA Leader Mmusi Maimane commemorated the sinking of the SS Mendi in Johannesburg this morning.
The tragedy - which saw 616 South Africans perish in the English Channel, including 607 black men serving in the South African Native Labour Contingent - took place a century ago today, on 21 February 1917.
Maimane says for almost a century, the sacrifice made by these 607 black South Africans was barely recognised.
"They weren't eulogised like their white counterparts; they weren't decorated with medals and honoured with monuments. Throughout the 20th century this tragedy was all but lost in the selective writing of history," said Maimane.
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"Men who were not yet free themselves in the land of their birth, but who laid down their lives so that the world could be free," said Maimane.
"We will never take their sacrifice for granted. And we will never take our own freedom for granted. We have come too far and paid too high a price, both in the brutal World Wars that ravaged the 20th century, and in our own struggle for freedom here in South Africa. Today we salute the brave men of the 5th Battalion of the South African Native Labour Corps. History will remember you for the heroes you were," said Maimane.