FRENCH legislation which will allow for the repatriation of the remains of Saartjie Baartman will be debated in the lower house of the French Parliament on Thursday, Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Ministry representative Andile Xaba said. The department’s deputy minister Brigitte Mabandla would travel to France to witness the outcome of the motion to be put forward in the National Assembly. ”Indications are that the motion will be viewed in a favourable light by the French National Assembly,” Mabandla said. ”If this happens, it concludes nearly six years of consultations and negotiations between South African and French representatives.” She said the aim of returning Baartman’s remains to South Africa was to ensure that she were properly buried in the country of her birth. The Khoisan woman’s skeleton and bottled organs were displayed for years at France’s Musee de l’Homme after her death in 1816. – Sapa