Removal of Khoisan mummy from mountains slammed

BISHO -- An organisation which represents the interests of the Khoisan community in the Eastern Cape has come out strongly against the removal of the newly-discovered 2000-year-old mummy found in the Kouga Mountains.

Dr Johan Binneman of the Albany Museum discovered the mummy in the Kouga Mountains west of Port Elizabeth and plans to transport it to the museum.

But the deputy director of arts and culture in the Humansdorp area, John Witbooi, said he would not agree to the removal of the mummy and wants it kept at the site which scientists can visit if they wish to study the body.

He said the worst-case scenario would be for the grave to be destroyed and the remains taken away and put up as a "freak".

"You won't go and dig up the bones of a white person and put them on display."

Also representing an organisation called the Khoisan Awareness Initiative, Witbooi said: "The removal of the finds would be a problem and it must not be seen as a scientific freak."

He said people often became involved in a "tug of war" to use such remains as a tourist attraction forgetting that the discovery should be handled in a dignified and sensitive way.

However, Witbooi welcomed the discovery for its potential to illuminate the history of the Khoisan people.

He said the fact the mummy had been preserved with plants showed the intelligence of the Khoi and San people, who had previously been made out to be primitives.

He said the discovery also proved the "significance" of the Khoi and San people to the history of the Eastern Cape. -- ECN