Mutating Memories and the Making of a Myth: Remembering The SSMendiDisaster, 1917–2007

Abstract

The SS Mendi, carrying the last detachment of the South African Native Labour Contingent to work as non-combatants in France during the First World War, sank just off the Isle of Wight on 21 February 1917. The death toll was high: of the 882 men on board, 615 died and 267 were saved. The grim details are easily verifiable; the subsequent afterlife of the incident is more complex. This article addresses the way in which the Mendi disaster has been recalled over decades and contextualised in terms of public memory at different historical junctures, and how a heroic narrative was constructed with certain elements more pertinently being foregrounded recently to serve a useful purpose in the present.

Indigenous South African poetry as conduits of History: Epi-poetics – a pedagogy of memory

“…They support the sources that indicate the reasons why Africans volunteered for service in the South African Native Labour Contingent for non-combatant service in Europe during the First World War (Grundlingh, 1987;Willan, 1978). These poems support the historical sources (Genis, 2018;Grundlingh, 2011) that indicate that the African elite, of which many of the iimbongi were members, believed that serving Britain loyally in the war would lead to more political rights in the "white" Union of South Africa. Furthermore, instead of only studying the "great" trench poets that include Owen and Sassoon, who are used as examples in CAPS, learners will be exposed to indigenous war poets and songs that specifically refer to South African experiences of the war.…”

“…The Mendi transported members of the South African Native Labour Contingent to Europe when it collided with another ship and sank in the English Channel on 21 February 2017. Hundreds of Africans drowned (Grundlingh, 2011). This event has been in the news since the centenary celebrations that started in 2017.…”

“…the Mendi Centenary Conference at UCT) and various publications, including Fred Khumalo's novel, Dancing the death drill (2017). Historically, Mendi celebrations were stifled by the apartheid government during the second half of the 20th century (Grundlingh, 2011). However, in 1994 South Africa's first democratically elected government was established.…”