South Africa launches plan to exhume hanged political prisoners

South Africa's government has tweeted about its plans to exhume the human remains of 83 political prisoners who were hanged on the gallows by the apartheid regime and buried in unmarked graves:

Minister Micael Masutha today launched the Gallows #ExhumationProject at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre. pic.twitter.com/OY6LJORj8g

— South African Gov (@GovernmentZA) March 23, 2016

Madeleine Fullard, from South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authorities Missing Persons Task Team, has also been tweeting from the event at the museum at Kgosi Mampuru II prison in the capital, Pretoria

Her team looks for the remains of those who disappeared during apartheid.

The justice department says a total of 130 political prisoners were hanged at this Pretoria prison between 1960 and 1990.

Forty-seven of these prisoners have been exhumed while 83 of them remain buried in unmarked graves.

The prisoners were mainly members of the Pan Africanist Congress (POQO) and United Democratic Front (UDF).

The government says their remains will be handed over to their families once they have been positively identified.