Described as the largest restorative justice process in South Africa, the Sutherland Nine Reburials Project has concluded at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
The project involved nine San and Khoi human remains which were unethically brought to UCT in the 1920s by a medical student from the Kruisrivier Farm in Sutherland.
The discovery was made in 2018 by UCT’s Professor Victoria Gibbon, academic adviser of the Sutherland Nine Reburial Programme, during an archiving audit.
This kicked off a lengthy multidisciplinary and multi-institution investigation which revealed the first names of seven individuals and the surnames of two, Abraham and Stuurman, whose descendants still live in Sutherland.
The scientific studies then established the gender and identity of the individuals, reconstructing their faces, how they died and whether they were related.
Cornelius Abraham, a 30 to 45-year-old man, lived between 1833 and 1878, while Klaas Stuurman, a 40 to 60-year-old lived between the years of 1820 and 1880. Gui, a 30 to 50-year-old man who lived between 1300 and 1400, and Glae, a 4 to 6-year-old boy who lived between 1860 and 1870.
The others were identified as Saa, a six to eight-year-old girl who lived between 1860 and 1870; Jannetjie, a 45 to 60-year-old woman who lived between 1835 and 1895; Saartje, a 30 to 40-year-old woman who lived between 1840 and 1880; and, Totje (mid-twenties) and Voëtje, a 44-year-old man who lived between 1858 and 1913.
UCT’s Vice-Chancellor (interim) Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy apologised and acknowledged the atrocity as the university held a reburial programme on Friday which was attended by descendants of the Abraham and Stuurman clans.
“I wish to acknowledge the Sutherland community, along with the Abraham and Stuurman families, for their grace, patience and cordial collaboration in this process, noting the delays could not have made this process any easier for them,” he said.
The Abraham and Stuurman clans run deep into the Northern, Eastern and Western Cape.
Anthony Stuurman Mietas, a family representative, told Weekend Argus it was a roller-coaster of a journey to find retribution for his forefather.
“Growing up, we always had questions for our elders. Even our great- grandfathers used to tell us stories of our missing relatives and the significance of that, and now we don’t only restore justice to the families but bring back history to a community,” he explained.
“It has been used for more than a hundred years for medical and science purposes,” he said.
The skeletal remains will now be transported back to Sutherland where sacred reburial proceedings will take place on Sunday.
“This should be earmarked on the calendar. It is a hugely significant day in our history because it is broader than the Stuurman and Abraham family,” a proud Mietas said.
A wrapping of the remains ceremony also took place and UCT’s Anatomy learning centre, was renamed to Khoesisoros, while the newly-established Garden of Remembrance was renamed for the Sutherland Nine.
Gillian Pieters, speaker of the Namaqualand District Municipality, added that the reburial process should lead to renaming of the Cape Town International Airport to Krotoa.
“Why was it necessary to hide our smiles and our souls? We want to be remembered and will forever be the first nation.”