Armed Forces Day celebration held at Kimberly today

The event is seen as a good exercise of the SA National Defence Force’s logistic capabilities and also provides a platform to show off the various careers in the South African military.

Photo: Twitter

Armed Forces Day will be held in Kimberley this morning. last year the celebration was hosted in Durban.

The purpose of the celebration is to commemorate the sinking of the SS Mendi. The sinking of the SS ship was caused by the reckless action of the captain of the SS Darro. It remains the greatest wartime maritime disaster ever suffered in South Africa. During the First World War there was a shortage of labourers, which despite the draft, caused delays in moving supplies from the rear to the front lines. In September of 1916, General Louis Botha, the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa at that time, informed Parliament that Britain had requested that the South African Native Labour Contingent provide 10 000 men to work behind the front lines in France.

This is the day chosen as Armed Forces Day in South Africa after earlier suggestions it be marked on December 16, the day of the founding of the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe.

The Mendi was built in Glasgow and in 1905 registered to the British & African Steam Navigation Co Ltd. She is shown here in pre-war days in use as a mail ship. Image courtesy of the John Gribble Collection Image source

Commander-in-Chief of the SA National Defence Force President @CyrilRamaphosa is at the Mittah Seperepere Convention Centre, Kimberley for #ArmedForcesDay which commemorates the sinking of the #SSMendi in 1917. pic.twitter.com/gTSsqmQ1i9

— Cyril Ramaphosa ???????? #StaySafe (@CyrilRamaphosa) February 18, 2018

Source: Defence Web