Council explores spiritual repatriation of Khoi chief
THE endeavour to find and repatriate the remains of one of South Africa’s earliest political activists, Khoi chief Dawid Stuurman, has failed.
But his spirit might be brought home by September.
The nationwide campaign to bring Stuurman home to where he was born on Gamtoos soil in the Eastern Cape before Freedom Day this year was revisited yesterday.
The National Heritage Council (NHC) is now shifting its focus to spiritual repatriation.
NHC chief executive Advocate Sonwabile Mancotywa said it was agreed from the outset that if the remains could not be located, a spiritual repatriation would be explored.
“The initial idea was to bring Chief Stuurman’s remains home so that he can celebrate 20 years of democracy on home soil,” Mancotywa said.
“Unfortunately, these endeavours have failed and we have exhausted all efforts.”
Stuurman is widely recognised as the last rebel Khoi chief to resist colonialism. He was a prisoner on Robben Island, from which he escaped twice and was then exiled to Australia where he died in 1830. His remains are believed to be buried in Sydney.
Although there were talks of his remains being brought to Bethelsdorp in Nelson Mandela Bay, where he spent some of his life, the final decision was that he would be reburied in Patensie in the Gamtoos region.
The NHC, along with members of the Khoi San council and two major forces behind the initiative – the South End Museum and Eastern Cape MPL Christian Martin, who vowed not to cut his hair until Stuurman is brought home – are still searching for the chief’s original family.
Until September, the NHC’s advocacy plan will be put in place to educate the people of Patensie, making sure they are ready for this historical event.
Mancotywa said they would now present this revisited plan to President Jacob Zuma and the Australian High Commission, after which plans for a memorial service at the Sydney railway station and another in Port Elizabeth would be set in motion before laying Stuurman to his final rest.
The entire process, along with a memorial grave, is estimated to cost about R4-million.
National Khoi San Council chairman Chief Cecil Le Fleur said Stuurman’s homecoming was the final phase in his rite of passage.
“Every human being has the right to complete his life’s cycle. Chief Stuurman was denied this as the Khoi San belief is that your soul is only at rest if you are buried where you were born.”
For members of the Khoi San, Stuurman’s journey home after 184 years on foreign land after his death is their homecoming too.
“Chief Stuurman and many other Khoi San leaders who have gone before us played a vital role in fighting colonialism. We not only fought to bring him home, but to have Khoi San contributions to South African history finally recognised,” Le Fleur said.