The remains of 42 South African freedom fighters who died while exiled in Zimbabwe and Zambia during the struggle against white minority rule arrived in their home country on Wednesday.

The remains were received by government officials and family members at Waterkloof Air Force Base in the capital Pretoria after being exhumed for reburial in the country of their birth.

This was part of a government programme to bring the remains closer to families, whose loved ones died away from home while serving in the underground structures of both the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress, officials say.

Before the apartheid system ended in South Africa in 1994, many activists left the country to receive military training elsewhere with the aim of returning home to wage an armed struggle. Others left the country to avoid being arrested by the apartheid regime for their involvement in anti-apartheid activities, and chose Zimbabwe and Zambia where the underground structures were the strongest.

After it was banned in South Africa, the African National Congress party of Nelson Mandela, shifted its headquarters to the Zambian capital, Lusaka.

Many died in exile and were buried in those countries. Among the remains returned to South Africa were those of freedom struggle stalwarts Duma Nokwe, Florence Mophosho and Basil February.

Speaking during a Heritage Day event in South Africa on Tuesday, South Africa’s Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the repatriation was part of efforts to teach future generations about the role played by many in the struggle against apartheid.

“As a national memory project, this initiative aims to commemorate, celebrate, educate, promote, preserve, conserve and provide a durable testament to South Africa’s road to freedom,” Mashatile said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted a homecoming ceremony for the repatriated remains on Friday before they are handed over to families for reburials. The government said on Wednesday it was in the process of repatriating the remains of other South Africans from Lesotho, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Angola, Russia and other countries.

“I hope this process will culminate in getting more people in other countries who died under difficult conditions. We welcome them back to connect with their families,” Deputy Defence Minister Bantu Holomisa said.

• A Reuters report