THE SOUTH AFRICAN EXILE REPATRIATION PROJECT

Throughout September, South Africa is marking Heritage Month. This year, it is “celebrating the lives of our heroes and heroines who laid down their lives for our freedom.”

The annual event draws attention to various aspects of South African culture, such as creative expression, music, historical inheritance and language.

This month, the government is also launching the Exile Repatriation Project. This initiative aims at bringing home the human remains of South African freedom fighters who died in exile - as well as of people whose bodies were collected illegally or unethically in South Africa or overseas for the purpose of, for example, racial research.

It’s hoped the project will bring closure to families, and help facilitate healing and restoration as a nation.

During the era of struggle, several African countries played a crucial role in supporting and sheltering South African exiles - for example, Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Libya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda. Zambia hosted the ANC headquarters in Lusaka and Ethiopia hosted the first ANC office in exile in Addis Ababa in the 1960s. Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Angola provided training camps.