The Sutherland Nine laid to rest in Sutherland’s historic cemetery

01 December 2023 | Videography Ruairi Abrahams and Boikhutso Ntsoko. Video Edit Boikhutso Ntsoko. Photo Je’nine May. Video Production Team Roxanne Harris, Ruairi Abrahams , Boikhutso Ntsoko and Rozanne Engel

On Sunday, 26 November 2023, the sacred remains of nine Khoi and San individuals, known as the Sutherland Nine were finally laid to rest in Sutherland’s historic cemetery.

|gui, Cornelius Abraham, Jannetjie, Klaas Stuurman, Saartje, Totje, Voetje and two children named G!ae and Saa were laid to rest six years after their skeletal remains were discovered during a 2017 audit which revealed they were unethically brought to the university in the 1920s by a medical student.

The university admitted to this wrongdoing, apologised for the injustice, and embarked on a process of restorative justice which included – among other things – engagement with the Abrahams and Stuurman families who share surnames with some of the nine, and the relevant stakeholders.

For more information on the Sutherland Nine Reburial visit: Sutherland.


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