The government says the repatriation of the remains of two former political prisoners Simon Niilenge and Festus Nehale from Cape Town, South Africa, is about restoring dignity, reconnecting families with their ancestors and addressing a painful chapter in the country's liberation history.

The final buses carrying Malawian returnees from South Africa arrived in Mwanza on Friday, ending a government-funded programme that brought home more than 56,700 people.

Returnees were observed unloading belongings and undergoing checks before receiving aid.

The remains of two Namibian political prisoners, who died on Robben Island, have been exhumed in Cape Town.

Festus Nehale and Simon Niilenge died while serving prison sentences during the apartheid era.

Their remains will now undergo scientific examination before being repatriated to Namibia.

It was a sombre day for the families of Namibian liberation heroes Festus Nehale and Petrus Niilenge, as they visited their graves in Cape Town ahead of the exhumation and repatriation of their remains.

The two men died while imprisoned on Robben Island.

A Namibian delegation comprising officials from the University of Namibia (UNAM) and the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts, and Culture is in Cape Town, South Africa, conducting verification of liberation icons who died there.
 

Four Namibian women from Oshikoto Region who returned home from Vredendal in South Africa’s Western Cape following anti-illegal immigration protests have thanked the government for arranging their safe repatriation but say they now face unemployment and need assistance to restart their lives.

Fourteen Namibian citizens have returned home from neighbouring South Africa amid anti-foreigner sentiments with only a few possessions. 

Issued with emergency travel certificates, the group of returnees were voluntarily repatriated from Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape Province. 

The South African government is continuing its work in facilitating the safe return of foreign nationals to their respective home countries.

South African Justice Minister and Inter-Ministerial Committee chairperson Mmamoloko Kubayi made this assurance at a recent media briefing in Johannesburg.

The remains of two Namibians who died while imprisoned on Robben Island and were buried in Cape Town, South Africa, are to be exhumed and repatriated before 26 August 2026.

The Zambian government has intensified efforts to help citizens wishing to return home following anti-immigration protests reported in parts of South Africa.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that, so far, no Zambian has been reported injured in connection with the anti-immigration protests.