The SS Mendi: Going down in history, literature

The Mendi story inspired black poetry in South Africa for decades. Samuel Mqhayi wrote the recruitment poem 'Umkosi wemi-Daka (The Black Army)' for the South African Native Labour Contingent, and he went on to write 'Ukutshona kukaMendi (The Sinking of the Mendi)'.

Two contemporary authors have explored the story of the SS Mendi in books published to coincide with the centenary, and while both chose to humanise the long-lost heroes in fiction, they based some characters on real people.

Fred Khumalo, who has written Dancing the Death Drill, points out that many black South Africans of his age know the story of the Mendi superficially.

"We know a group of men went over there to fight and their ship had an accident. There is a legend that the ship was attacked by a German submarine, which is not true. In primary school I was part of the choir, and we sang this famous choral song, Amagorha eMendi  by Jabez Foley from Grahamstown, a tribute to these guys. It was very sad, dark and sombre, but does not tell the story."

story_article_left1

His interest was rekindled by a visit to France at the invitation of the Department of International Relations, on an unrelated matter.

"Our guide said there was free time and offered to take us out of Paris into the countryside, so we went to Dieppe and he explained that this was where troops landed from England, South Africa and other countries. He then took us to some war graves and they turned out to be the graves of members of the South African Native Labour Contingent, which made me remember the Mendi. We met the mayor, who knew about the South African soldiers, as his father had told him about the constant skirmishes between these guys - even though they came from the same country."

Back home Khumalo struggled with the idea of writing a history of the Mendi, but the prospect of tracing long dead people or their decedants was daunting.

"I started writing a novel on it, and when I registered to do a master of arts degree at the University of the Witwatersrand I was accepted on another book idea and then changed to the Mendi story, using the class for feedback."

Jason Stimela Jingoes from Lesotho, who was one such survivor, ended up in the Free State where he became a famous trade unionist and wrote A Chief is a Chief by the People, an autobiography.

"I used him as one of the characters in my book, but he was just one of many. Some came back and were ordinary members of society. We don't know what happened to others."

Brenda Shepherd, author of Men of the Mendi, became interested in the Mendi after hearing a radio review of a short story about it.

"My hair stood on end," she said. "The very next day I bought the book but with only two pages on the Mendi, it made me begin my research. I pictured the story as a movie and wrote it as a film script which won the award for best action drama at Sithengi in 2004."

full_story_image_hleft1

The film was never made for lack of money.

Some years later, a retired publisher urged her to write a book, which involved a lot more research in this country, the UK, the Isle of Wight and France.

"Through my quest, I met the amaNgwane in Bergville. A large number of the clan's men had enlisted but until I arrived with the roll of honour, they did not know what had happened to them. Through meeting Chief Menzi Hlongwane and his secretary Sithunywa Zwane, the central characters for my book emerged. Although Men of the Mendi is a historical novel, it is based on real-life characters and events."

sub_head_start More on the Mendi sub_head_end

• Dancing the Death Drill by Fred Khumalo is reviewed in Lifestyle today.

• Charmain Naidoo remembers a visit to the site of the sinking with some of the last survivors, in her column on the Rand Daily Mail site.

• eNCA will screen Troopship Tragedy - The Story of the SS Mendi  today at 6.35pm, with repeats tomorrow at 2.05pm, Tuesday at 11.35am and Wednesday at 9.05pm.