The recent homecoming of the remains of freedom fighters from Zambia and Zimbabwe forms part of the Resistance and Liberation Heritage Route Project, a national memory project, which aims to commemorate, celebrate, educate, promote, preserve, and conserve South Africa's road to freedom.
It is for us to remember the sacrifice of those that have fallen outside of our country’s borders. In the mid-2000s South Africa participated in the repatriation of the spirits of cadres that are buried in graveyards in France, Russia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and other countries and placed them at Freedom Park.
Freedom Park, the National Heritage Council, the South African Heritage Resources, the Department of Military Veterans and the National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture have played critical roles in locating and negotiating with countries where the cadres are/were to repatriate their remains.
It has not been a normal matter of “resting in peace” for the families of the departed loved ones as the repatriation of physical bodies and spirits constitutes a reopening of wounds.
South Africa further deals with a list of many missing people whose graves have not been relocated. The story of Nokuthula Simelane fits into this category.
Nokuthula Simelane was an ANC cadre who was born in Mzinoni in Bethal, Mpumalanga. The story of her life and times has not been concluded as the site where her body lies has not been located by those responsible for her assassination. It is 41 years since Nokuthula disappeared.
Her father and brother passed away without doing the cultural rites of laying her to rest and having closure. Her mother and sister (our current Minister of Justice the Honourable Thembisile Simelane Nkadimeng) have been involved in endless processes to find the truth about what happened to her and put her remains to final rest.
Her spirit still wanders around and her mother who is fragile and elderly still lives in the hope that she will see the site where her daughter’s earthly remains lie, exhuming them and burying them in the dignified and befitting manner they deserve to be.
Nokuthula is one of our own and had the homeland had a university where she could pursue a degree of choice, she might have been spared her life. Nokuthula graduated posthumously from the University of Swaziland with a Bachelor of Administration degree in Social Sciences.
She was a member of the ANC's uMkhonto weSizwe and was abducted in Johannesburg where she was supposed to deliver critical information to ANC cadres in the country.
As her family continues to search for Nokuthula's remains or her burial site, it is important that we educate young people about the significance of the value of heritage and conserving the past but also for moulding our future. Our heritage shapes who we are as a people and where we are heading as a country.
Dr Sibongile Masuku is a Senior Lecturer in Heritage and Culture at the University of Mpumalanga. She is widely recognised as a leading expert in both South Africa and the broader SADC region. Her professional background includes serving as CEO of the South African Heritage Resource Agency and holding the position of Director for Heritage at the National Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.