South Africa is accelerating efforts to repatriate remains of political activists executed during apartheid, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said Saturday as three anti-apartheid fighters were reburied in the Eastern Cape province.
The department has handed over 180 remains of political prisoners to date, including 81 who were executed under apartheid and have been exhumed and reburied across the country.
Kubayi spoke at a ceremony in Komani where the remains of political activists Mncekeleli Boskati, Madoda Ralane and Wantu Silinga were returned to their families for burial with dignity after decades in unmarked graves.
“Currently, we are working on phase two so we can be able to repatriate outside the country,” Kubayi told Report Focus News at the ceremony. “However, there are other families who are saying they don’t want it to happen.”
The minister acknowledged complex negotiations with foreign governments over repatriation. “Other countries are saying this is part of their heritage, so those negotiations are not easy,” she said.
The Gallows Exhumation Project, launched in March 2016, aims to locate and recover graves of political prisoners executed during apartheid. Between 1960 and 1990, 130 political prisoners were executed at Kgosi Mampuru Prison.
Of 83 remains targeted for exhumation, 81 have been recovered and handed over to families across five provinces. The department has handled 180 cases total, including spiritual repatriations and symbolic burials.
The project represents part of South Africa’s broader efforts toward national healing 30 years after apartheid ended. Many executed activists were buried in unmarked pauper graves without family consent or traditional rites.
Earlier this year, the department returned remains of Benjamin Moloise and Abraham Mngomezulu, executed in the 1980s for their anti-apartheid activities. In July, activists Alex Matsepane and Solomon Mawasha were reburied in Limpopo province.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Unit coordinates with the National Prosecuting Authority’s Missing Persons Task Team to identify and exhume remains using forensic techniques.
Kubayi called for patience as the department engages with multiple stakeholders to balance family wishes with international diplomatic considerations in the repatriation process.