Symbol copyright Reuters Symbol caption The prime minister handed the ship’s bell to President Cyril Ramaphosa at a rite in Cape The Town
An International Struggle One relic linked to one among the worst maritime failures in English waters has been again to South Africa by way of Theresa May.
The SS Mendi sank off the Isle of Wight in 1917 killing more than 600 South Africans en route to the Western Front to fortify British troops.
The top minister handed the ship’s bell to President Cyril Ramaphosa at a ceremony in Cape The Town.
She stated it marked the “close bonds” between the 2 countries.
The SS Mendi sank on 21 February 1917 while it was by chance rammed in thick fog by the Royal Mail packet-boat SS Darro.
Symbol copyright Imperial Battle Museums Image caption More Than 800 participants of the South African Local Labour Corps were on board the Mendi
So Much of the useless had been participants of the South African Native Labour Corps, heading to France to build railways, trenches, camps and roads at the Western Front.
Speaking on the presidential place of business in Cape Town, Mrs Would Possibly mentioned: “I Am proud to give you the option to give the ancient bell from the SS Mendi to President Ramaphosa and the folk of South Africa.
“600 and seven black troops from the South African Local Labour Corps who set sail from Cape The Town simply over a century in the past unfortunately never reached their destination, and not served alongside many other Allied forces on the Western Front.
“These Days is crucial opportunity to commemorate this tragedy in our shared historical past and is yet one more example of the close bonds, historical links and mutual admire which underpins the UK’s very shut dating with South Africa.”
the story became a logo of racial injustice in South Africa, where successive white-led governments discouraged annual Mendi Day commemorations.
In 1995, the Queen and Nelson Mandela unveiled a memorial to the Mendi sufferers in Soweto.
Image caption The bell from the SS Mendi is assumed to have been removed for the shipwreck within the nineteen eighties 
Might to visit Africa for first time as PM ‘Lost’ WW1 Mendi bell handed to museum The sinking of the SS Mendi
The ship’s bell was once given to BBC reporter Steve Humphrey in 2017 in a plastic bag at Swanage Pier, Dorset, after an nameless phone call.
A observe in the bag learn: “If I handed it in myself it could no longer go to the rightful place.
“This must be sorted out sooner than I cross away as it could wander off.”
Image caption A notice was left with the bell, entrusting it to a BBC reporter 
Image copyright Southampton City Council Image caption The BBC’s Steve Humphrey with the bell at Southampton’s SeaCity Museum
It is believed the bell was taken from the shipwreck within the early eighties.
Until lately it had been on show at the Sea City Museum in Southampton.
Mrs Would Possibly may even seek advice from Nigeria and Kenya as a part of her first shuttle to Africa considering changing into top minister.
