Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma will spend his second day of his state visit in France by presiding over the Centenary Commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood.
France will commemorate the 100 years of South Africa's participation in World War One in which thousands of its troops from the infantry brigade died during the battle.
The battle at Delville Wood occurred when the South African Brigade was deployed on the Somme, an area along the French-Belgium border, in 1916.
They were ultimately commanded to dislodge the German forces from their strategic strong point at Longueval, which borders Delville Wood.
More than a million men were killed in action, mainly from the South African infantry brigade.
The Battle of Delville Wood went down in the history of WWI as an example of supreme sacrifice and heroism and remained the most costly action the South African Brigade fought on the Western Front.
President Zuma said the centenary commemoration is of special significance to all South Africans.
“We will use the occasion to redress one of the injustices of the past. In preparation for the centenary celebrations, the South African Delville Wood memorial has been transformed in order to ensure that the historical role played by black South Africans in the First and Second World Wars, is also accorded the necessary recognition as that given to white South Africans,” President Zuma said on Monday evening during a state banquet held on his behalf.
President Zuma spent his first day of his state visit meeting with his counterpart President François Hollande.
The day saw the signing of the several agreements and declarations in the areas of education, arts and culture, agriculture, development cooperation as well as business and investment.
The two sides also signed the renewed Partnership Framework Document on development cooperation for the period 2016-2019 which makes provision for collaboration in the promotion national priorities.
President Zuma also met the business leaders of both countries and impressed upon them the need to further advance trade relations.
“France continues to be one of our biggest trading partners and investors. We welcome the presence of French companies in South Africa that provide employment opportunities and skills development to our people. We look forward to further advancing cooperation in this regard,” the President said.
President Zuma also received the digitised Rivonia Trial dictabelts.
The deteriorating audio recordings of the 1963-1964 court case were restored by France’s National Audiovisual Institute (INA).
President Zuma thanked France for safeguarding “an invaluable part of South Africa's history for generations to come”. – SAnews.gov.za
