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Remarks by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood

Office of the Deputy President (The Presidency)Ref: https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/remarks-president-cyril-ramaphosa-commemoration-battle-delville-wood

Official source

Source domain: thepresidency.gov.za

Collected on 13 July 2026

Always confirm details on the official source before acting.

Our copy (archived 21 July 2026)Official source

What this means

This is a speech/remarks by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood. The remarks commemorate South African soldiers who fought and died in World War I, especially those who served at Delville Wood, and explicitly broaden remembrance to include Black South Africans in the South African Native Labour Contingent, the Cape Corps, and those who died in the SS Mendi disaster. The President argues that South Africa must remember the full, non-racial history of sacrifice and injustice, and links the lessons of the First World War to commitments to peace, international law, and the democratic values of the SANDF.

Facts

Reference

https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/remarks-president-cyril-ramaphosa-commemoration-battle-delville-wood

Key Takeaways

  • Speaker: President Cyril Ramaphosa
  • Event: Commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood
  • Date mentioned: 15 July 1916 (entry into Delville Wood)
  • Date mentioned: 20 July 1916 (survivors relieved)
  • Date mentioned: 21 February 1917 (SS Mendi sinking)
  • Delville Wood: 1st South African Infantry Brigade ordered to take and hold 'at all costs'
  • Delville Wood: more than 3,000 South African soldiers entered; only a small fraction walked out
  • SS Mendi: more than 800 Native Labour Contingent members; more than 600 perished
  • Native Labour Contingent: more than 20,000 Black South African men travelled to France for essential labour
  • Core message: memory of a nation cannot be divided by race; historical justice and inclusive remembrance
  • SANDF: constitutional duty described as defending the Republic, its people, sovereignty and democratic order
  • President Cyril Ramaphosa
  • Queen Masalanabo Modjadji VII
  • South African National Defence Force (SANDF)
  • French Armed Forces
  • South African Native Labour Contingent
  • Cape Corps
  • SS Mendi
  • Reverend Isaac Wauchope Dyobha
  • South African government / Union of South Africa
  • South African soldiers (1st South African Infantry Brigade)
  • Longueval (French village near Delville Wood)
  • Isle of Wight
  • English Channel
  • First World War
  • Battle of the Somme
  • Delville Wood Memorial