Online Reporter
Wallace Ruzvidzo
Herald Reporter
President Mnangagwa today received the Zimbabwe Bird and ancestral human remains that were repatriated from South Africa.
The repatriation took place after a directive issued by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Mr Gayton McKenzie officially handed over the artefacts to President Mnangagwa at State House in Harare.
In his remarks, the President said this was a historic moment that will be etched in the country’s history.
He described the Zimbabwe Bird as a vital cog in the country’s soul.
“Our calls for justice have echoed for generations, and today our brothers and sisters in the Republic of South Africa have answered us.
“I say thank you…thank you,” he said.
The President extended his gratitude to President Ramaphosa for his assistance.
He said he conversed with President Ramaphosa over the return of the artefacts.
“The cooperation by our brothers and sisters demonstrate the power of pan-African solidary,” said President Mnangagwa.
Minister Mackenzie recalled how
President Ramaphosa instructed him to return the artefacts: “Before Independence Day, I want my brother (President Mnangagwa) to smile.”
It is said the Chapungu played a deep and complex role during Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle, functioning simultaneously as a spiritual sign and as a concrete emblem of resistance and safeguarding.
The bird is regarded as a respected messenger that links the world of the living with the realm of the ancestors.
Because of this, it became woven into both the inner psychological struggle and the spiritual framework surrounding the fight for liberation.
The bird is widely regarded as the last soapstone sculpture produced at Great Zimbabwe, carved between the 11th and 15th centuries.
During colonial rule, the sculpture was seized and transported to South Africa.
Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe said the return of the artefacts and ancestral remains signal a day of healing for Zimbabwe.
