Descendants of Khoi and San communities have called for the postponement of a planned reburial of ancestral remains scheduled to take place in Namaqualand next week.
The reburial involves the remains of 58 Khoi and San individuals that were previously exhibited overseas. The ceremony is expected to take place at Kinderlê near Steinkopf.
Community members say they were not properly consulted about the process and have raised concerns about the service provider appointed to oversee the reburial. Some fear that important cultural and traditional practices may not be respected.
The remains were repatriated from Scotland, where they had been displayed in a museum for decades. Additional remains held at Iziko Museums of South Africa in Cape Town will also form part of the reburial process.
Khoi and San activist Angeline Engelbrecht says the process should be halted until communities are properly included in the decision-making.
Engelbrecht said the government must engage directly with Khoi and San descendants to ensure the reburial is conducted in a way that respects their cultural traditions. She added that the communities want to be fully involved in decisions surrounding the burial of their ancestors.
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