Iziko Museums of South Africa have returned a Chapungu Bird taken from the Great Zimbabwe site in Zimbabwe and eight sets of Human remains to representatives of the Government of Zimbabwe at a ceremony held in Cape Town on 14 April 2026. All were removed from sites within Zimbabwe during the nineteenth century and found their way into the collection of the museums. The timing of the restoration follows a directive from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that the items should be returned before the Zimbabwean Independence Day Celebrations on 18 April, part of a broader program by South African museums which aims to return objects and remains removed during the colonial era to the countries and communities from which they were taken.
The Chapungu Bird is one of eight such statues removed from the site by British adventurers in the nineteenth century. Each is made from a dark grey/green soapstone (a soft metamorphic rock) and stands 33 cm high. The statues formerly stood on pedestals about a metre high at the Great Zimbabwe site, and have been taken as a national symbol by the modern state of Zimbabwe, appearing on the national flag as well as coins and banknotes. The statue from Cape Town is the last to be returned to Zimbabwe, which has been seeking their restitution since independence in 1980.
As well as the Chapungu Bird, Iziko South African Museums has returned eight sets of Human remains which were removed from sites in Zimbabwe during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The remains are thought to have come from different communities around Zimbabwe, although full details have not been made available. One set of remains is thought to have belonged to a chief, and to have been exhumed and taken to South Africa in 1910. Another has been reported as a man murdered following accusations of witchcraft. All are known to have been taken from graves without the permission of their families of communities, and to have been retained at the museum as scientific specimens.
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