Mandela backs Mendi campaign

The Argus campaign calling on the Government to acknowledge the deaths of the men, who were on their way to help with the British war effort in France, has snowballed.

Seventy-nine MPs have signed an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons calling for the men to be properly remembered.

South African church leader Joseph Kobo revealed how many of the descendants of those who drowned on board the SS Mendi had still not been notified of their deaths or received an apology for the way the tragedy was covered up.

At the weekend Mr Kobo held a three-hour meeting with former South African president Nelson Mandela, who pledged to involve Governments in both countries.

Mr Mandela also said he hoped to accompany 200 descendants of the men when they visit Brighton this summer for a service to mark the unveiling of a memorial by local City Gate Church.

City Gate Church leader Andy Au said: "The meeting went on for three hours and Mandela was totally in support. Mandela is going to talk to the president, Thabo Mbeki, and get in touch with the South African embassy in London to ask them to try and look at a business partnership to help bring the South Africans to Brighton for the memorial service."

The men died when their ship was rammed in heavy fog by a British liner which did not stop to pick up any survivors.

The Argus has sent a dossier to the Secretary of State for Defence Geoff Hoon and is calling on the Government to help pay for memorial stones in both countries and towards the cost of bringing the relatives, many of whom live in rural villages in South Africa, to Brighton.

City Gate Church has applied for planning permission from the Diocesan Advisory Committee for a memorial stone to be placed in the graveyard of St John the Evangelist Church, in New Timber, near Brighton, on June 16.

A similar ceremony will be held in the Eastern Cape of South Africa on September 24.