2009-10-05: Show of unity by miltary veterans on Remembrance Sunday
A bold new formation bringing together South African military veterans will be on parade at the annual Remembrance Sunday event at the Cenotaph in Harrison Street on 8 November, at 14:30.
The Executive Mayor of Johannesburg will lead a group of dignitaries, including senior South African National Defence Force (SANDF) officials, ex-service organisations and diplomatic representatives in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph. Hundreds of marchers will participate in the parade, and the event is also open to the community at large. For the first time this year, there will be a troop of 25 pounder guns firing two salvos.
The event will mark the unification of the military veterans in South Africa, especially Johannesburg. With the formation of the South African National Military Veterans Association (SANMVA), launched in Johannesburg in September 2008, military veterans have united under a single banner. The many organisations grouped together under SANMVA represent close to a million military veterans in South Africa.
The Remembrance Sunday will open with a march-past by military bands, the SANDF and military veterans. This will be followed by an inter-faith religious service to be led by Rev Brent Chalmers, a military veteran himself.
The Remembrance Day event in Johannesburg is the largest of its kind in South Africa. SAFM is expected to transmit live and this will ensure that veterans around the country who are unable to attend in person catch up with the radio broadcast.
The National Remembrance Sunday Service has been held at the Cenotaph since the inception of the War Memorial in 1926. The Cenotaph was first inaugurated as a war memorial to South Africans, who fell in World War One, 1914–1918. Inscriptions to those who died in World War Two were added in 1947.
In 2002 Councilor Masondo unveiled an inscription at the Cenotaph to honour all military heroes and victims of war. The inscription reads: "The City of Johannesburg honours all those who made the supreme sacrifice in all wars, battles and armed struggles for freedom, democracy and peace in South Africa".
Issued on behalf of the Executive Mayor's Office
City of Johannesburg
By:
Nthatisi Modingoane, Deputy Director
Public Liaison Department, Cell: 082 467 9228
