President Mnangagwa has received the centuries-old Zimbabwe Bird, Chapungu at State House in Harare.
THE repatriation of the last Zimbabwe soapstone bird, the Chapungu and ancestral human remains from South Africa, marks the beginning of a broader journey of cultural restoration, healing and reintegration.
This comes after South Africa, at the directive of President Cyril Ramaphosa, handed back the artefacts on Tuesday.
The symbolic handover which took place in Cape Town comes at a time Zimbabwe is preparing for independence celebrations this coming weekend.
Zimbabwe Bird is the definitive icon of independent Zimbabwe, appearing on national flags, coats of arms, currency, passports, and IDs.
It has symbolised both Rhodesia and Zimbabwe, and today remains central to military insignia, govt logos, civic institutions &national monuments.
The Chapungu played a profound, multifaceted role during the Zimbabwean war of liberation, acting as both a spiritual omen and a tangible symbol of resistance and protection.
As a revered Shona messenger between the living and the ancestors, the bird was integrated into the psychological and spiritual dimensions of the armed struggle, acting as a ‘bird of Chimurenga.’
The Chapungu, or Zimbabwe Bird, is the eighth and final soapstone sculpture carved between the 11th and 15th centuries at Great Zimbabwe.
Believed to depict a bateleur or fish eagle, it once stood atop stone monoliths as a spiritual guardian.
Looted during colonial rule over a century ago and taken to South Africa, it has now been repatriated as part of efforts to restore Zimbabwe’s cultural heritage.
The Zimbabwe Bird, together with ancestral human remains, was repatriated from South Africa in a ceremony at the Iziko Museums in Cape Town, following a directive by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
