Construction commences in Cape Town

The ground breaking ceremony at Cape Town.From Left: Mayor Geordin Hill – Lewis (The Mayor of the City of Cape Town), Sidney Maliwa (Descendent of Magwayi Maliwa, a serviceman being honoured in the memorial), Joey Monareng (Senior Operations Supervisor at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission), Councillor van der Ross Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services & Health) and Charles Garrett (Director Global Strategy & Commonwealth Affairs at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). Credit: Rizqua Barnes

Work has commenced on the new Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Cape Town Labour Corps Memorial to commemorate Black South African servicemen who perished in the First World War.

The ground breaking ceremony in Cape Town's Company's Garden, marked the beginning of the first Memorial created and funded by the CWGC in response to previous inequalities in commemoration after the First World War report. Its innovative design is the work of Dean Jay Architects of Durban, winners of the Memorial design competition in 2023 with Cape Town based firm DNL managing the construction.

From Left: Sidney Maliwa (Descendent of Magwayi Maliwa, a serviceman being honoured in the memorial), Janine Myburgh (Honorary Consul to Canada), Joey Monareng (Senior Operations Supervisor at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) Credit: Rizqua Barnes

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said:
“We are proud to honour, through this Cape Town Labour Corps Memorial, more than 1700 servicemen who made the ultimate sacrifice in the fight against tyranny more than a century ago. Once completed, this memorial will be a wonderful tribute to black South African servicemen who perished in the First World War, and whose stories were often overlooked in the telling of that history. I can think of no better place to remember their contribution than right here in our beautiful and much-loved Company’s Garden in the heart of the Mother City.”

The memorial's contemporary construction will see each life lost represented by an African hardwood post, with the service number, first and last name and date of death of the deceased recorded on it. The posts vary in height and individual characteristic finishes will be brought about by the environment over time. Each post will be set into an individually numbered South African Rustenburg granite base – a material used in the Commission’s cemeteries across South Africa.

Charles Garrett OBE, CWGC Director of Commonwealth Relations and Global Strategy, taking part in the ceremony said:
“This landmark memorial has been long in the planning, and throughout the process we have enjoyed an enthusiastic and warm response to creating a contemporary space that will appropriately reflect the contribution that South Africans of colour made during the First World War.

“It is very poignant to have a new focal point of remembrance in South Africa, for all South Africans to appreciate. The new memorial honours by name a group of individuals who, for far too long, have been overlooked in history and in doing so seeks to tell the most complete story of global conflict.”

The new memorial commemorates the lives of more than 1,700 Black South African servicemen who served in non-combat roles and perished without a known grave or previous commemoration during the First World War. The men served with the Cape Coloured Labour Regiment, the Cape Auxiliary Horse Transport, the Military Labour Bureau, and the Military Labour Corps of South Africa. It is planned to be completed and opened in November 2024.