South Africa’s Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie has announced that the country is intensifying efforts to repatriate the remains of indigenous people taken abroad during the colonial era and those who died in exile during the anti-apartheid struggle.

He said the government is working with foreign institutions to retrieve remains, including those of the KhoiSan, and will inspect cemetery records in countries like Angola and Zimbabwe to trace exiled freedom fighters.

Describing the initiative as an act of justice and healing, McKenzie also unveiled plans to rebury 58 indigenous remains taken without consent and used for scientific study.

He urged institutions globally to commit to restitution, citing past successes such as the return of Sarah Baartman’s remains from France in 2002 and the Pienaars from Austria in 2012.

He noted that many exiles were buried in unmarked graves across Africa, Cuba, and Europe, and revealed a mission to Angola to trace 400 such individuals, with support from an Australian demining firm to access hazardous sites.