Bringing them home: Government launches Angola repatriation drive

Government has launched the Angola phase of its Exile Repatriation Programme, calling on families whose loved ones died, disappeared or were buried in Angola during the liberation struggle to come forward and register with the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA). The announcement was made during a media briefing at Freedom Park in Pretoria, attended by Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie and Deputy Minister Peace Mabe, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga, Justice and Constitutional Development Deputy Minister Andries Nel, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula, representatives from the Angolan government and other stakeholders. The programme aims to locate, exhume, identify and repatriate the remains of South Africans who died in exile, with government describing the initiative as part of its responsibility to restore dignity to families who have waited decades for answers.

McKenzie said the programme is about restoring dignity to families who have spent decades without answers. There is a woman in this country who was a girl when her brother walked out of the family home. She never saw him again.

“Today there are hundreds of families like hers. We are here to tell them that the waiting is coming to an end.” Quoting the Constitution, the Minister said South Africa has a duty to honour those who suffered for justice and freedom. “A country that leaves its dead in foreign soil has not finished the work of becoming free.

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Bringing them home is not ceremony; it is the completion of a citizenship that was interrupted.” Preliminary investigations have identified 89 potential graves for excavation. Subject to approval from Angolan authorities, excavations and exhumations are expected to begin in September and October 2026. Government said the process will be supported by forensic specialists and DNA analysis, although some remains may not be recoverable or identifiable due to difficult terrain, mine-affected areas, deteriorated remains and limited historical records.

The programme has already seen the remains of 49 South Africans repatriated from Zambia and Zimbabwe. Government said the Missing Persons Task Team has also recovered the remains of more than 230 victims linked to apartheid-era political conflict.

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