SAS Mendi was built at the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft shipyards in Kiel, Germany,[3] and arrived in South Africa on 20 September 2004.

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.

[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.

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.