South Africa formally returned a sacred soapstone bird carving and eight sets of ancestral human remains to Zimbabwe in a ceremony at the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town on Tuesday. Eight coffins draped in the Zimbabwean flag stood alongside the carved bird during the handover.
Why it matters: The Zimbabwe Bird is one of the most powerful symbols of Zimbabwean identity, featured on the national flag, coat of arms, and currency. Its return closes a chapter of colonial-era looting that began more than a century ago and adds momentum to the global repatriation movement.
What was returned
The soapstone bird was the first of several carvings looted from the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, a stone city complex built between the 11th and 13th centuries. A British explorer ripped it from its pedestal in the late 19th century and sold it to mining magnate Cecil John Rhodes.
The carving eventually ended up in South African museum collections. It was the last of the original Zimbabwe birds held outside the country.
The eight sets of human remains had been held in South African research collections. Little was known about the individuals except that they had been exhumed without consent for academic study, a common colonial practice.
Part of a global movement
The handover is part of a worldwide push to return artefacts and human remains taken from African nations during colonialism. France returned 26 artefacts to Benin in 2021. Germany has repatriated Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. The British Museum faces ongoing pressure over its holdings.
South Africa’s Department of Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie presided over the Cape Town ceremony. Zimbabwe’s delegation received the items ahead of the country’s Independence Day celebrations on 18 April.