Remains of Baziya’s 13 finally return home to Eastern Cape

THIRTEEN people from Baziya outside Mthatha hanged in the 1960s are among 83 political prisoners whose remains will be exhumed in Pretoria today.

Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha will be present at the exhumation.

The Baziya 13 were hanged after their alleged involvement in the killing of five white people at Mbhashe River in 1963.

Police of the then apartheid government arrested a large number from the community but eventually sentenced to death the 13.

Another 10 trialists were prison.

Of those hanged, five were members of the Vulindlela family, including 18-year-old Mbekaphantsi Vulindlela. sentenced to life in

The families of the 83 political prisoners arrived in Pretoria yesterday and performed cultural rituals of soul repatriation at the cemetery.

Department of Correctional Services spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said it took the department about five years to get to the exhumation stage.

“The team had to go through a lot of records that included volumes of court files and files from correctional services. Also, their graves were not marked, which was a challenge,” said Mhaga.

The Baziya 13 were hanged in July 1964 at the Kgosi Mampuru gallows in Pretoria. All 13 were buried in unmarked graves in Mamelodi Pretoria.

Mhaga said the department hopes to conclude the exhumation of the 13 and hand over the remains to the families at the end of January.

The official start of the project will be conducted at the Rebecca Street Cemetery, Pretoria West. —