President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to officiate the repatriation and restitution homecoming ceremony for the remains of South African freedom fighters, who lost their lives in Zambia and Zimbabwe during the apartheid era.
The ceremony is expected to be held at the Freedom Park Heritage Site and Museum in Tshwane on Friday.
‘Ahead of addressing the homecoming ceremony on Friday… President Ramaphosa will lead a wreath-laying procession at the Wall of Names.
‘The Wall of Names is inscribed with the names of heroes and heroines, who died fighting for humanity and freedom during the major conflicts in South African history, namely: the Pre-Colonial Wars, Slavery, Genocide, Wars of Resistance, the South African War, the First and Second World War and the Struggle for Liberation,’ the Presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.
The repatriation and restitution homecoming ceremony forms part of Heritage Month, observed under the theme: ‘Celebrating the Lives of Our Heroes and Heroines Who Laid Down Their Liv
es for Our Freedom’.
On Wednesday, the South African government received the remains of 49 liberation fighters at Waterkloof Airforce Base in the presence of their families.
The Presidency explained that the repatriation formed part of the Resistance and Liberation Heritage Route Project (RLHR).
‘The RLHR is a national memory project aimed at commemorating, celebrating, educating, promoting, preserving, conserving and providing a durable testament of South Africa’s road to freedom.
‘The repatriation initiative is part of a broader effort to bring the remains of freedom fighters, who died in exile, to their final resting places.
‘This is not only a gesture of honour to the individuals and their families but also an effort to strengthen the bonds of friendship, solidarity, and development with the host countries through memorialisation,’ the statement read.
Source: South African Government News Agency