The Pro Patria Museum NPC, Registration number 2022/209580/08 was established to create a museum at Fort Schanskop at the Voortrekker Monument. Its aim is to honour and recognise the historical role played by the South African Security Forces to create a safe and peaceful environment for an orderly political transition and to educate current and future generations about this role.

One of the museum’s main missions is to establish and sustain a world class museum complex with exhibitions, activities, a research facility, library, commercial and hospitality features to create a home for the veterans and their descendants. It also serves as military tourism anchor at the Voortrekker Monument, Tshwane and South Africa. This must inspire people to honour the history of the conflict in South-West Africa, Angolan and South African Theatres, and to educate the youth about the role the Security Forces played during this part of our country’s history.

THE 61 MECH MUSEUM ROOM

The Pro Patria Museum approached the 61 Mech Veterans Association in 2025 with a request to establish an exhibition for 61 Mech Battalion Group as part of its greater display. This presented an excellent opportunity to access the 61 Mech Battalion Group memorabilia in private hands, where it may have been kept surreptitiously for many years. The Association jumped at the opportunity to create this platform, in addition to the existing 61 Mech museum room at the National Museum for Military History, stocked with the official memorabilia of 61 Mech Battalion Group as supplied by the South African National Defence Force.

This became a project of the Heritage portfolio of the 61 Mech Veterans Association with the patron, Kobus Smit, as the driving force behind the planning and implementation of this tremendous team effort. Jandre du Plessis, Neels van Heerden, Andre Smit and Erich van Rensburg all contributed in various manners so that the target date of 22 August 2025 could be reached in time.

The display features a collection of artefacts that were either donated to or produced by the 61 Mech Veterans Association. A reading corner with a comfortable leather chair and a shelf of books relevant to 61 Mech Battalion Group forms a prominent part of the display. Most of the books were donated by supporters of this project and the authors of these books. The room has one monitor. It screens interviews of soldiers who served with Battle Group Juliet and 61 Mech Battalion Group, recounting their personal experiences, and cover diverse topics ranging from Training, Military Operations, Humour in uniform, the Border War, Reflections and Background, Families and Loved Ones and the Former Enemies.

The curator of this museum room is appointed from the numbers of the Association and, together with other volunteers from the Association, is responsible for the regular maintenance and rotation of the displays in this 61 Mech museum room.