Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson has formally handed over the long-delayed Sarah Baartman Centre of Remembrance construction site to a newly appointed contractor, marking what he described as a decisive step towards completing a project that has remained unfinished for more than a decade.
Speaking during the ceremonial handover in Hankey on Saturday, Macpherson said the Centre had become a symbol of government failure instead of serving as a fitting memorial to Sarah Baartman, whose life remains one of the country’s most painful reminders of colonial exploitation and racism.
“The unfinished state of this project became yet another shame attached to her name,” Macpherson said.
“Instead of standing as a monument to dignity, it became a monument to delay. Instead of being a place of remembrance, it became a reminder of government failure.”
The Centre was intended to honour Baartman’s legacy while preserving the history and heritage of Khoi and San communities, serving as a place of learning, tourism, economic opportunity and community pride.
Baartman’s remains were repatriated from France and reburied in Hankey in 2002 after years of campaigning, with the Centre envisioned as part of efforts to restore her dignity and tell her story from a South African perspective.
Macpherson said that when he assumed office two years ago, the Sarah Baartman Centre was among several stalled infrastructure projects inherited by his department.
“The Department could not continue as a graveyard of unfinished projects,” he said.
He said the Centre had been identified as one of the department’s top ten failed priority projects requiring urgent intervention.
According to Macpherson, government introduced focused oversight mechanisms, appointed the Independent Development Trust as the implementing agent and strengthened procurement, planning and community engagement before appointing a new contractor.
“Today’s handover to the newly appointed contractor is the result of that work,” he said.
“It is not the end of the journey. It is not yet a victory lap. But it is a real and important turning point.”
Macpherson said the contractor had been tasked not only with completing the infrastructure but also with restoring public confidence after years of delays.
“This is not an ordinary project. You are not simply here to complete a building. You are here to help repair a breach of trust,” he said.
He warned that government would closely monitor implementation and would not allow the project to fall victim to the problems that had delayed it for years.
“We will not allow the mistakes of the past to be repeated. We will not allow late payment, poor contract management, weak oversight, community exclusion, or poor performance to drag this project back into failure.”
The minister also said the completed Centre should create opportunities for local workers and businesses while contributing to tourism, education and economic development in the Eastern Cape.
In addition, Macpherson said he expected to return to Hankey at the end of 2027 to formally hand the completed Centre over to the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.
“We can decide that this project will no longer be defined by failure,” he said.
“We can decide that the memory of Sarah Baartman will finally be honoured in the way it should have been honoured from the beginning.”
He added that completing the Centre formed part of his broader commitment to ensure the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure finishes long-abandoned public infrastructure projects.
“Since my appointment, I have said that we must turn South Africa into a construction site. That does not only mean building new infrastructure. It also means finishing what has been left behind.”
