Ramaphosa supports late amaXhosa's king dream of recovering King Hintsa's skull
President Cyril Ramaphosa has spoken out in support of the
Xhosa nation in general, and the late amaXhosa King Zwelonke Mpendulo
Sigcawu in particular's dream of recovering the skull of the 19th Century
amaXhosa King Hintsa.
King Sigcawu passed away earlier in November and Ramaphosa was delivering a eulogy at his funeral service on Friday.
Ramaphosa said one of Sigcawu's most passionate causes was that of colonial reparations and the need for former colonisers to publically acknowledge their role in the brutalisation and dispossession of all national groups in South Africa.
"Till the very end, he was engaging with government to get support for a mission to visit the British Royal family to discuss the brutal killing of King Hintsa in 1835 and to lobby for the return of the Kings' remains," said Ramaphosa.
King Hintsa was killed and decapitated by British troops with his skull take to the UK as a trophy.
In the 1990s a self-proclaimed traditional leader claimed to have found the skull in Scotland, but palaeo-anthropologists found that it was not the late King Hintsa's remains that were found.
"This noble mission remains us of the reality that we still carry deep scars and wounds as a people that have not been healed," said Ramaphosa.
"We are still living with the effects of centuries of injustice wrought upon us by colonialism."
Ramaphosa said he had "no doubt" Sigcawu's successor would take the cause of King Hintsa's remains, and specifically his skull, forward.