A public meeting is scheduled this weekend as the Western Cape government is in the process of concluding its consultation process regarding the reburial of human remains housed at the Simon’s Town Museum.
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A Khoi or San skull, which UCT has confirmed, as well as several other partial skeletons, some of which may have European ancestry (unconfirmed), make up the remains, which are not part of the museum’s collection.
The remains have reportedly been kept at the museum ‘for some time,’ according to a public notice from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, which is conducting the public consultation process.
The public consultation process opened on 26 July and will conclude on 26 August.
Speaking to IOL, Simon’s Town Museum manager Cathy Salter-Jansen said that the remains were of two groups, one a skull dating back 2 000 years while the other is believed to be of several adults found during the construction of the Simon’s Town magistrate’s court in 1978.
The department reported that a VOC official’s gravestone was discovered nearby, suggesting that the latter group may have been an old burial ground.
There were no complete skeletons, according to Salter-Jansen.
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‘The area was built centuries ago, so the graves were disturbed a very long time ago, before the magistrate’s court itself was built,’ Salter-Jansen said.
‘The Khoisan skull was found in the dune sand above Windmill Beach, but below the golf course. The skull was found long after the golf course was built, and was not found on the course itself.
‘The skull was found in 1978, after a golfer went down below the course, just above the beach, to look for a lost ball,’ he said.
The skull was found buried in an old shell midden, below the golf course.
‘The public meeting is to gauge how the community would like to see both groups of remains reburied, and to establish if they want a forensic investigation, to find out the potential cultural identity of those from the magistrate’s court. This information would inform the reburial ceremony/ceremonies,’ he said.
Written submissions should be sent to [email protected] on or before 26 August if you have any information that could be helpful in shedding light on the remains and facilitating a respectful reburial.
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