Story by Oleen Ndori, Foreign Desk Editor
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has presided over the repatriation and restitution homecoming ceremony of South African freedom fighters whose remains were buried in Zimbabwe and Zambia during the apartheid era.
The remains of 42 liberation heroes and heroines were received at the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Centurion, Wednesday after the repatriation process in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The remains include former ANC Secretary-General Duma Nokwe, former Pan African Congress (PAC) leader Letsholo Edwin Makoti and renowned journalist Todd Matshikiza with the ceremony taking place at the Freedom Park Heritage Site and Museum in Pretoria this Friday.
President Ramaphosa expressed gratitude to Zimbabwe and Zambia for honouring the fighters, adding that the ceremony is crucial as it plays a key role in valuing liberation heroes and heroines.
He said, “As we welcome these patriots back home, we owe our everlasting gratitude to the countries that offered these freedom fighters shelter, support and, in the end, a fitting resting place. We are grateful in this instance to the governments and peoples of Zambia and Zimbabwe for having taken great care of our compatriots and for enabling their remains to be repatriated.
“Like other countries on our continent and other parts of the world, they stood alongside us in our struggle for freedom. They hosted our freedom fighters. They provided material assistance. These countries dedicated themselves to our cause, often at a great cost to themselves and their people. Our fallen heroes and heroines became part of these sister countries. Today’s ceremony brings us closer together. We are hopeful that we may work with the authorities of these countries to promote the memorialisation of our shared struggles.”
The repatriation and restitution homecoming ceremony is part of Heritage Month and a broader effort to bring back the remains of freedom fighters who died in exile.
Zimbabwe repatriated 16 remains of South African former liberation fighters who had been interred at Warren Hills Cemetery in Harare and Athlone Cemetery in Bulawayo.
