Families finally bring home 86 Namibians lost to apartheid prisons

For the families of 86 Namibians whose loved ones died far from home, a ceremony in Cape Town offered something long overdue: the chance to bring them back.

South Africa formally returned the remains of two Namibian political prisoners who died in captivity at Robben Island during the apartheid era, along with the mortal remains of 84 other Namibians whose bodies had remained in the country since their deaths. The handover, held at the Iziko Museum in Cape Town, ended decades of separation between the deceased and the families and communities they left behind.

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For those families, the return opens the door to proper burial and mourning on their own terms, according to their own cultural and spiritual traditions. That is not a small thing. Grief deferred across borders and generations carries a particular weight, and the repatriation gives relatives a measure of closure that had been out of reach since the apartheid era.

The two prisoners at the center of the ceremony had been imprisoned for their role in the struggle against apartheid. Their return, alongside the 84 others, reflects the broader human cost of a system that reached well beyond South Africa’s own borders, drawing in and consuming lives from across the region.

Gayton McKenzie, South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, delivered the keynote address. He did not frame the occasion in abstract diplomatic terms. “We gather here in Cape Town whose island prison once held these comrades. But we gathered here today to send them home. Today is not an ordinary day. It is a moment in history in which we return mortal remains and cultural objects from the Republic of South Africa to the Republic of Namibia,” he told those assembled.

McKenzie also used the platform to speak about the relationship between the two countries in a more immediate context. South Africa had endured a difficult stretch, facing widespread accusations of xenophobia following protests against undocumented foreign nationals and a government deadline for their departure by the end of June. The pressure showed in how some countries on the continent responded to South Africa’s national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, as they prepared for World Cup competition.

Namibia’s response, McKenzie said, was different. “What stood out for me was not our enemies or people that called themselves our enemies said about us but what Namibians said about us. Namibians stood by us. Namibians were even wearing t-shirts of Bafana Bafana,” he said. It was a pointed contrast, and he meant it as one.

The inclusion of 84 additional remains alongside the two prisoners underscores just how widely apartheid’s reach extended into neighboring populations. The liberation struggle was never contained within a single country’s borders, and neither, it turns out, were its casualties.

The ceremony, covered by SABC News, is part of a continuing process of historical reconciliation between the two nations. What remains to be seen is how many more such returns may still be necessary, and how many families are still waiting.