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News – South Africa: First combined march honours soldiers

WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.

Original Post Date: 2008-11-11 Time: 05:00:09  Posted By: Jan

By Bongani Masango and Mziwandile Nkosi

Soweto has made history once again by hosting the first-ever march by soldiers who fought for freedom across two continents.

For the first time in the history of South Africa, liberation fighters and war veterans held a combined march on the streets of Soweto and Johannesburg in honour of those who fought against apartheid and in the two world wars.

Saturday’s rainy weather could not stop hundreds of Sowetans from watching the parade, which started with a march in Mooki Street, Orlando East, and proceeded to the Orlando Communal Hall.

The parade was previously exclusively held in the Joburg city centre, ending at the Cenotaph in Beyers Naude Square, but this year it was extended to include the famous township because of the role it played in fighting apartheid.

The event culminated with the sound of bagpipes filling the Joburg city centre, as pigeons flew into the sky above, accompanied by the barked orders of officers directing their units through the streets.

About 400 soldiers marched behind the liberation fighters in a parade which consisted of a mass pipe band of the SA National Defence Force, the Memorable Order of Tin Hats (Moths), the SA Police Service, the Joburg metro police, emergency services personnel and a few Boy Scouts and Girl Guides.

Members of the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association and the Azanian People’s Liberation Army also joined the parade, marching through the streets of Soweto.

Nkele Ntingane, Speaker for the Joburg council, said the Orlando Communal Hall was a historic venue, and could be associated with many leading figures of the anti-apartheid movement such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Robert Sobukwe.

The communal hall was used for ANC meetings during the 1930s, and was where the Pan African Congress was formed in 1959, she said.

“Today’s parade is a perfect example that shows South Africans can achieve a lot by being disciplined,” Ntingane added.

The weekend-long annual Remembrance Day commemoration culminated in the laying of a wreath at the Cenotaph in the Johannesburg city centre.

Mayor Amos Masondo laid the wreath in the company of the defence force’s top brass.

    • Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20081110052822171C944630