Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula says the role that black Africans have played in world wars has been downplayed.
She is representing South Africa at the 75th anniversary of the Battle of El-Alamein.
It was fought in the north of Egypt in 1942.
Minister Nqakula says her mission is to ensure that the role of black South African soldiers in that battle is never forgotten.
“They went there as laborers, to carry equipment, to dig trenches but in the course of battle they ended up fighting and thereby losing their lives so the role played by black South Africans is one that South Africans should never ever forget.”
[Source: SABC]
