Namibia: Namibia to Rebury Remains of Political Prisoners Returned By South Africa

What the report says

Namibia will rebury the remains of two anti-colonial political prisoners, Festus Nehale and Simon Niilenge, during Heroes Day ceremonies on Wednesday at Heroes’ Acre, according to AllAfrica’s republishing of an RFI report. The two men were returned to Namibia by South Africa last week after having been buried in Cape Town for decades.

The report says Nehale died in 1971 and Niilenge in 1974, and that both were part of the wider Namibian struggle against South Africa’s apartheid-era occupation. Their repatriation is being presented by officials as part of a broader effort to bring home remains taken during the colonial period and held abroad.

AllAfrica’s source notes that the handover in Cape Town on 19 August also included the remains of 84 Indigenous people from the Iziko Museums collections, along with other burial-related items and artifacts. South African Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie described the return as an act of restorative justice and healing, while Namibia’s education, arts and culture minister, Sanet Steenkamp, said the returned remains belonged to people who left under a colonial order but are now being honored as citizens of a free republic.

The report adds that Namibia has long sought the return of human remains from overseas, and that earlier repatriations from Germany have taken place in previous years.