Ramaphosa in his Twitter message wrote, “ Today we pay our respects to the South African soldiers who died 102 years ago when the military steamship, the #SSMendi, sank during a dense fog on the English Channel 21 February 1917. On #ArmedForcesDay, we remember their bravery and honor their sacrifice.”
In 1917, SS Mendi sank in dense fog in the English Channel where it collided with a cargo ship. The horrifying disaster had claimed that lives of 616 South Africans and 30 British crew members.
On Armed Forces Day, South African security forces demonstrate its progress and advancement in the field of military equipment and technologies to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. It is a platform to showcase the human and technological capability of the armed forces in front of common people. IT also allows the SA National Defence Force to interact with communities and to expand public understanding of the military’s role and purpose to society.