100 Years of Memory

South Africa and WWI

In July 2016, South Africa will commemorate the Centenary of the WWI Battle of Delville Wood, when 3 ‍‍200 troops of the South African Infantry Brigade arrived on the battlefield of Delville Wood in the department of La Somme (France). This battle became one of the deadliest Somme engagements of the First World War, in which the Union of South Africa lost almost two-thirds of the complement of its Overseas Expeditionary Force in less than a week of warfare.

The South African Union was only four years old at the beginning of WWI in 1914. As part of the British Empire, the country became attached to the Allied war effort in several military operations in Africa and the Middle East (South West Africa, South East Africa, North Africa, and in Egypt and Palestine), and in western Europe. Over 200, 000 White, African and Coloured South Africans went to fight as combatants or to labour as non-combatants on these varied fronts. Due to the political requirements of segregation, black Africans were only allowed to serve as labourers or as other unarmed auxiliary workers, and were all prohibited from bearing arms. By the end of hostilities, around 12,500 South Africans had either been killed in action or had died as a consequence of their active war service. In death they were segregated as they had been in life – black servicemen were not buried together in the same cemeteries with their white compatriots.

As part of the remembrance of the Delville Wood battle, the French Institute of South Africa, the Alliance française network, the Goethe Institut and the South African Holocaust & Genocide Foundationwill be organising a series of events to commemorate the Union of South Africa’s engagement in the First World War. This project has obtained the “Label du Centenaire”, a French certification highlighting the most innovative and structured projects around the memory of WWI.

Historians (Bill Nasson, Tilman Dedering and others to be confirmed) will participate in a shared discussion of a century of commemoration of WWI in South Africa. Playwright and director Sylvaine Strike will create a performance alongside an exciting young cast to poetically convey the experience of young men who volunteered to be sent to the European battlefront, as well as the feelings back home in South Africa, a country geographically remote from the worst horrors of WWI. This play will also be performed in Durban and Cape Town. Finally, a showcase of animated short movies about WWI will be screened to provide a contemporary perspective on these events and experiences.

In Johannesburg

• Wednesday 08 June 2016

  • 19.00 | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre
    (1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, 2193)
    Performance of the play Devil’s Wood, directed by Sylvaine Strike (with Daniel Geddes, Thabo Rametsi & Tishiwe Ziqubu)
    Followed by a discussion between Sylvaine Strike and Bill Nasson (Stellenbosch University)
    > Facebook event
    > See the Programme

• Thursday 09 June 2016

  • 11.30 | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre (by invitation only)
    (1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, 2193)
    Performance of the play Devil’s Wood, directed by Sylvaine Strike (with Daniel Geddes, Thabo Rametsi & Tishiwe Ziqubu)
  • 19.00 | Goethe Institut
    (119 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood, Johannesburg, 2193)
    Round-table “Commemorating South Africa and World War One: 1914-1918 in national and historical imagination” with Bill Nasson (Stellenbosch University), Tilman Dedering (UNISA) and Marion Edmunds (documentary director)
    > Facebook event

• Friday 10 June 2016

  • 19.00 | Alliance Française of Johannesburg
    (17 Lower Park Dr, Parkview, 2122)
    Screening of Animated Short Films on WWI
    Followed by a discussion with Tilman Dedering (UNISA)
    > Facebook event
    

In Durban

• Thursday 9 June 2016

  • 18.30 | Alliance Française of Durban
    (22 Sutton Cres, Berea, 4001)
    Screening of Animated Short Films on WWI

• Tuesday 14 June 2016

  •  10.00 | Durban Holocaust Centre (by invitation only)
    (44 K E Masinga Rd, Durban, 4001)
    Performance of the play Devil’s Wood, directed by Sylvaine Strike (with Daniel Geddes, Thabo Rametsi & Tishiwe Ziqubu)
  • 18.30 | Durban Holocaust Centre
    (44 K E Masinga Rd, Durban, 4001)
    Performance of the play Devil’s Wood, directed by Sylvaine Strike (with Daniel Geddes, Thabo Rametsi & Tishiwe Ziqubu)

> Facebook event Durban

In Cape Town

• Tuesday 14 June 2016

  • 18.30 | Alliance Française of Cape Town
    (155 Loop St, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town, 8000)
    Screening of Animated Short Films on WWI

• Wednesday 15 June 2016

  • 18.00 | Cape Town French School
    (Kings Rd, Sea Point, Cape Town, 8060)
    Performance of the play Devil’s Wood, directed by Sylvaine Strike (with Daniel Geddes, Thabo Rametsi & Tishiwe Ziqubu)

> Facebook event Cape Town

If you wish to attend to these events, please RSVP, we have limited seats:
RSVP: comm.research@ifas.org.za