HARARE, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe on Wednesday welcomed the return of a centuries-old "Zimbabwe Bird" stone sculpture and eight ancestral remains from South Africa, ending over a century of displacement dating back to the colonial era.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa presided over the handover ceremony at State House, attended by South African Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie, and Zimbabwean government officials.
Mnangagwa hailed the repatriation as a triumph of Pan-African solidarity and a decisive step toward addressing historical colonial injustices. He emphasized that reclaiming such artifacts is essential for restoring the nation's cultural identity and rectifying the "salient testament" of past plunder.
"For far too long, this vital piece of our national soul and dignity resided in a foreign land... My government will continue to ensure that Zimbabwe's rich heritage is freed from the hostage in foreign museums, public spaces and private galleries," the president said.
For his part, McKenzie described the return as a significant historical milestone, expressing his hope that the eight ancestors would finally find peace in their native soil and that the day's events would help in the long journey of restoring Zimbabwe's national wholeness.
The Zimbabwe Bird, known in the Shona language as Chapungu, is a national emblem and symbol associated with the country's cultural and historical identity, and is featured in the national flag, coat of arms and currency.
Carved from soapstone, this specific artifact was the first of eight carvings looted from the ruins of Great Zimbabwe -- the Iron Age capital located in the country's southeast -- and later sold to Cecil John Rhodes, then the prime minister of the Cape Colony, in the 1890s.
The eight ancestral human remains were collected from Zimbabwe -- then known as Southern Rhodesia -- during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were acquired by colonial officials, medical practitioners and researchers, and donated to what became the Iziko South African Museum as scientific specimens. ■
