R30m to repatriate remains of SA citizens

THE Department of Sport, Arts and Culture plans to spend R30 million over the next 10 years on returning the remains of South Africans that lie outside the borders of the country.

This emerged this week when the department made a presentation on the policy to Parliament.

The move comes after the Cabinet in March adopted the national policy on the repatriation and restitution of human remains and heritage objects.

Vusithemba Ndima, deputy director-general for heritage promotion and preservation, said the policy presented an opportunity for the repatriation and restitution of the human remains of those who died during colonialism, apartheid and resistance.

Ndima said the remains could be of those who fell in the line of duty, in military action or in civil society struggles against apartheid.

“They could also be the human remains of people whose corpses were collected illegally or unethically, which found their way into the repositories of institutions in South Africa or overseas.

“They could be the remains of people which entered the repositories of institutions for the purpose of racial research,” he said.

Ndima also said the policy covered material culture, artefacts and documentation closely associated with human remains.

The government was undertaking repatriation and restitution on an ad hoc basis in the absence of a national policy and guidelines when the bodies of Khoi woman Sarah Baartman and Struggle heroes JB Marks and Moses Mabhida were repatriated.

Ndima said the government was unable to undertake and carry the costs of the numerous requests it received for repatriation and restitution from the public and stakeholders.

The new policy would be implemented in a phased approach, depending on the availability of resources, Ndima said.

There would be a Repatriation and Restitution Office in the 2022-23 financial year and repatriation would be handled in the following years from countries such as Botswana, Zambia, Angola and others.

Ndima said they were not looking at embarking on a massive repatriation drive in one go.

“The policy will be reviewed at regular intervals for effectiveness, efficiency, consistency, progress and impact and finally after 10 years for continued utility and relevance.”

A total of R30 661 200 was the estimated cost over the 10 year period.

“Mitigation measures include the establishment of a special fund to carry these costs and requests for repatriation and restitution to be approved on a strictly case by case basis,” he said.

Parties welcomed the policy, but NFP and EFF warned against using political affiliation in the repatriation of the remains of people.

Director-general Vusumuzi Mkhize said: “It is a policy to serve all South Africans”.

Minister Nathi Mthethwa also said they would not look at the political affiliation of those to be repatriated.