South Africa has returned ancestral human remains and a centuries-old stone carving of the sacred Zimbabwe bird to Zimbabwe in a symbolic act of restitution tied to colonial-era looting.
The handover ceremony took place on Tuesday at a museum in Cape Town, where officials from both countries gathered as eight coffins draped in the Zimbabwean flag were formally presented for repatriation.
According to officials, the human remains were unethically exhumed more than a century ago for research purposes, with little documented information about their identities. Zimbabwean representatives said the remains will undergo further study upon arrival before being returned to their “place of origin.”
The returned artefact also included a soapstone carving of the Zimbabwe bird, a revered national symbol originating from the ancient stone city of Great Zimbabwe, built between the 11th and 13th centuries.
The carving was reportedly removed in the late 19th century by a British explorer and later acquired by colonial mining magnate Cecil Rhodes, who played a major role in the colonial administration of the Cape.
South Africa’s culture ministry described the return as a historic moment, noting that nearly 140 years after the first Zimbabwe bird was taken, it is finally being repatriated.
The Zimbabwe bird, which is also featured on the country’s flag, banknotes, and coins, is regarded as a sacred emblem believed to represent a protective spiritual presence.
Officials said the remaining Zimbabwe birds previously held in South Africa were returned shortly after Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, marking continued efforts to restore cultural heritage removed during colonial rule.
