• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home World

Belgian King expresses deep regret for colonial past in Congo

30 June 2020, 5:07 PM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
Belgium's King Philippe addresses citizens

Belgium's King Philippe addresses citizens

Image: Reuters

Belgium's King Philippe addresses citizens

Belgium’s King Philippe expressed deep regret on Tuesday for the “suffering and humiliation” inflicted on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during its 75-year period under Belgian rule.

It is the first such expression of regret for Belgium’s colonial past by a reigning monarch, the royal palace said.

It came in a letter to DRC President Felix Tshisekedi to mark the 60th anniversary of independence.

“I want to express my deepest regret for these past injuries, the pain of which is regularly revived by the discrimination that is still all too present in our societies,” said the letter, which was seen by Reuters.

Belgium has long struggled to come to terms with its colonial past and history with the Congo – “a past marked with inequality and violence towards the Congolese,” Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes said on Tuesday.

The DRC achieved independence in 1960 after the Central African country had been a Belgian colony for 52 years. Millions of Congolese are estimated to have died between 1885 and 1908 after King Leopold II declared it his personal property.

During Leopold’s rule “acts of cruelty were committed, while the subsequent colonial period “caused suffering and humiliation”, Philippe said.

Statues of Leopold, whose troops killed and maimed millions of people in Congo, have been defaced or removed in Belgium after global anti-racism protests sparked by the police killing of black American George Floyd swept across Europe.

In the file video below, Belgium forced to confront its colonial legacy:

Philippe pledged to “continue to fight every form of racism” and welcomed the Belgium parliament’s move to launch a reconciliation commission to address racism and the country’s colonial past. This process of reflection could help Belgians “finally make peace with our memories”, he said.

The King’s younger brother Prince Laurent struck a different tone earlier this month when he said that Leopold could not have “made people suffer” in Congo because he never visited his colony.

The DRC was known as Zaire from 1971 to 1997 under the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko.

In the video below, Patrice Lumumba honoured in Brussels:

Share article
Tags: George FloydKing PhilippeSophie WilmesKing Leopold IIBelgiumDemocratic Republic of the CongoMobutu Sese SekoColonialFelix Tshisekedi
Previous Post

Overview of COVID-19 in Africa with WHO’s Dr Mary Stephen

Next Post

Thousands of Sudanese rally for faster reform after Bashir ousting

Related Posts

People look amid rubble as the search for survivors continues following an earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, February 7, 2023.

Building collapses in Damascus suburb in quake aftermath

9 February 2023, 5:29 AM
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

‘Give us wings’, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy pleads on European tour

8 February 2023, 8:38 PM
Members of the Algerian rescue team and Syrian army soldiers search for survivors at the site of a damaged building, in the aftermath of the earthquake in Aleppo, Syria February 8, 2023. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi

SA’s Ambassador to Syria condemns harsh sanctions imposed by Western countries

8 February 2023, 2:06 PM
Rescuers carry a woman after she was evacuated from under a collapsed building following an earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, February 7, 2023.

WHO estimates death toll from Türkiye and Syria quake at 20 000

8 February 2023, 8:41 AM
US President Joe Biden

American democracy, while bruised, has remained unbroken: Biden

8 February 2023, 5:44 AM
An aerial view shows collapsed and damaged buildings after an earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, February 7

Turkey-Syria quake death toll passes 7 800

8 February 2023, 5:20 AM
Next Post
Civilians hold the national flag at a barricade as members of Sudanese pro-democracy group demonstrate on the anniversary of a major anti-military protest, as groups loyal to toppled leader Omar al-Bashir plan rival demonstrations, in Khartoum, Sudan, on June 30, 2020.

Thousands of Sudanese rally for faster reform after Bashir ousting

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Green comet to be visible from SA next week
  • SA Weather Service warns of maximum temperatures in Cape Town
  • VIDEO: Mabuza resigns as SA Deputy President
  • Budding Stellenbosch FC star reportedly stabbed to death
  • Several areas in Gauteng without water
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • Green comet to be visible from SA next week
  • Registration at Unisa closes on Friday, but management says no need to panic
  • VIDEO | St Benedict College’s Matric learner gets 11 distinctions
  • Limpopo matriculant from child-headed household attains diploma pass
  • Several areas in Gauteng without water
  • ‘Sisulu should be fired for her unacceptable behaviour’
  • Gauteng’s Health Department confirms a third case of cholera in Johannesburg
  • Weather Service issues severe weather warnings for parts of Eastern Cape, Gauteng
  • Zuma vs Ramaphosa heads to the ConCourt

LATEST

People look amid rubble as the search for survivors continues following an earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, February 7, 2023.
  • Turkey - Syria Earthquake
  • World

Building collapses in Damascus suburb in quake aftermath


The multi-stakeholder group believes there are solutions to the power crisis that do not have to include the declaration of a national state of disaster.  
  • SONA 2023
  • South Africa

Legal battle on horizon if Ramaphosa declares a national state of disaster over Eskom crisis


Gavel seen in a courtroom
  • South Africa

E Cape Health exempts from making upfront lump sum payment in case of medico-legal claim


Soldiers guard positions near the Naaba Koom military base in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. (File)
  • Africa

Gunmen kill two MSF workers in west Burkina Faso


Power lines
  • Eskom rolling blackouts
  • Business

Six Eskom power stations identified as primary cause of rolling blackouts


Shopping cart loaded with grocery.
  • SONA 2023
  • Business

CEOs of CGCSA-member companies highlight rising cost of doing business in SA


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous Overview of COVID-19 in Africa with WHO’s Dr Mary Stephen
Next Thousands of Sudanese rally for faster reform after Bashir ousting