The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) joined the global community to mark United Nations International Peacekeepers Commemoration Day on Friday, May 29.
The annual event honours the brave men and women who have lost their lives while serving under the UN banner to bring stability to conflict zones across Africa. The military base fell completely quiet as government leaders, military commanders, and grieving families gathered to lay flowers and reflect on the true cost of peace.
Delivering her address, the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Angie Motshekga, spoke about the tough reality of military deployment, urging everyday citizens to respect and appreciate the unique burdens carried by soldiers. “It’s a strange thing that to be able to have peace, you have to fight to keep peace,” Minister Motshekga said. “You have to protect people. There must be efforts. There must be soldiers. There must be sacrifices. And I think for me today, it’s very significant for everybody, especially those who are not soldiers, to reflect and respect and appreciate the life of these people.”
The Minister also shared a heartbreaking reality about the massive personal moments that deployed service members miss out on back home. “But also to thank their families for the sacrifices and wish them well,” she added. “Some of them leave children behind. I think I know of another one who only saw his child through photos. He never had an opportunity to carry the child.”
Speaking during the formal proceedings, the Chief of Staff of the SANDF, Lieutenant General Michael Ramantswana led the audience in a moment of silent reflection, framing the global day of remembrance as a deep national duty. “The International Day of the United Nations Peacekeepers is a solemn commemoration in honour of selflessness and sacrifice, and not just a mere calendar event,” he said. “On this day, we pause and reflect and honour the memory of brave men and women who paid the ultimate price in pursuit of African peace.”
The Chief of Staff emphasised that the names of the deceased will remain a permanent part of South African history. “Their sacrifice is a timeless, unyielding reminder that peace is never free. It is secured and maintained with the blood of patriots. Their names are forever etched into the granite bedrock of our nation’s history, and their courage remains our tactical guiding light,” Lt. Gen Ramantswana said.
For specialised combat units, such as the airborne forces, the loss of colleagues on foreign soil shapes their entire perspective of service. Lieutenant Colonel Lebeko Kwata from the 44 Parachute Regiment spoke openly about the risks that every soldier accepts when they take their oath.
“The nation in large, they must understand that when you’re a soldier, when you sign, you sign your warrant of death,” Kwata said. “That one you must take it into consideration, because sometimes when you go for peace, to make sure that peace abides, somewhere somehow you are going to force it. And to force peace, that’s where we are going to take arms and taking arms… if you fight with people that are prepared it means we prepare to kill them, they will kill us!”
Despite these heavy stakes, Kwata explained that the memory of their fallen comrades serves as an enduring bond for the soldiers left behind. “We need to commemorate them because as paratroopers, we believe that they don’t depart. They left, they are going to regroup, when we arrive we will meet them in heaven. They are going to prepare a safe haven for us and that is the motivation that keeps us together as paratroopers,” he said.
While the military maintains its operational focus, the emotional centre of the day belonged to the families who face the daily, quiet reality of an empty chair at home. The Chief of Staff addressed the relatives directly, expressing the permanent gratitude of the nation.
“Today, we extend deeply felt gratitude to the families and comrades of our fallen heroes, families who now carry the heaviest, most painful burden of our continental missions,” he said. “No words can truly fill the void left in your hearts, at your dinner tables, private spaces and all areas of life that remind you of their joyful presence. Your sons, your daughters, your spouses and your parents did not fall in vain,” the Chief of Staff said.
The depth of that void was captured by a grieving mother at the ceremony. Standing at the memorial wall where the names are displayed, she spoke about her lost son. “My child, you have left with everything that you used to do. If it was possible, I would wake you up,” said 77 year-old Tebogo Teti.
While South Africa’s peacekeepers died on foreign missions, their actions have placed the nation in a debt that history will never forget.
