Eastern Cape honours Sarah Baartman’s legacy
The Eastern Cape government has honoured the legacy of Sarah Baartman through a wreath laying ceremony at her grave in Hankey in the Eastern Cape.
Today
|Eastern Cape launches the Milestones of Freedom Campaign
The campaign will honour the legacy of Sarah Baartman while shining a spotlight on young women entrepreneurs and their contribution to building a more inclusive economy.
The launch will begin with a visit to Sarah… pic.twitter.com/z8tUdugvdm
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) August 11, 2026
The ceremony was part of the province’s leg of Milestones of Freedom Campaign launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The campaign seeks to remember the past while delivering the future. The province’s MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Nonkqubela Pieters, says the humiliation suffered by Sarah Baartman more than two centuries ago still resonates in the violence and objectification of women today.
“We must make sure we end GBV and femicide. We are calling on men and government in general and grateful that the president has declared it as a disaster. We are calling on religious leaders, government and stakeholders to come on board. What happened to Sarah Baartman is GBV and we cannot allow that to spread.”