SAS Mendi (F148) is the last of four Valour-class frigates built for the South African Navy by the European South African Corvette Consortium and entered service in March 2007. SAS Mendi was named by Mrs Helena Retief, wife of the (then) Chief of the Navy Vice Admiral Johan Retief.[1]
Mendi, as with all the Valour-class vessels, was manufactured by the European South African Corvette Consortium (ESACC), consisting of the German Frigate Consortium (Blohm+Voss, Thyssen Rheinstahl and Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werf), African Defence Systems (part of the French Thales defence group) and a number of South African companies.[2]
The ships were built to the MEKO modular design concept, and are designated by the manufacturer as the MEKO A-200SAN class. Some controversy exists as to the class type of the vessel, with both the manufacturer and the South African Navy referring to her as a "corvette", but other similar vessels in other navies being referred to as frigates.
SAS Mendi was built at the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft shipyards in Kiel, Germany,[3] and arrived in South Africa on 20 September 2004.
According to a presentation made to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence by Rear Admiral B.K. Mhlana, Deputy Chief of the Navy in May 2023, Mendi had been scheduled for refits in both 2013 and 2019 but no work had been done to date. Her mid-life update was scheduled for 2024. The admiral described the frigate as the only vessel of the class still effectively operational.[4]
As with all the other ships of the Valour class, Mendi is named after a famous South African battle or instance of great valour. In this case the sinking of SS Mendi in the English Channel during World War I.[5] On the 23 August 2004, en route from the shipyards to South Africa, SAS Mendi and HMS Nottingham,[6] a Type 42 destroyer, met at the site where SS Mendi sank and lay wreaths in remembrance of those who died in service for their country
As of 2021 SAS Mendi was reported to be in reasonable shape and was being brought back to operational status through a staged maintenance and repair program. However, it was also reported that there still remained: "much work ahead. As long dormant systems are used again, small kinks and issues will show and must be ironed out”.[11]
In February 2023, Mendi participated in joint South African-Russian-Chinese exercises (exercise Mosi II) which involved the frigate Admiral Gorshkov and tanker Kama from the Russian Navy[12] along with the destroyer Huainan, the frigate Rizhao and the support ship Kekexilihu from the Chinese Navy, as well as other smaller units from the South African Navy.[13]
