On their first visit to an African country since ascending the throne a decade ago, the King and Queen of the Netherlands made a symbolic visit on Friday to the Slave Lodge in Cape Town, South Africa, where Dutch colonists once enslaved thousands of Africans and Asians. As they entered the two-story building with creaky floors, they were confronted by members of another royal house: a small group of leaders of the Khoi and the San, the Indigenous groups who were first displaced 350 years ago by Dutch colonists in what is today Cape Town. The Dutch King, Willem-Alexander, formally apologized earlier this year for his country’s role in slavery and colonialism. But South Africa’s Indigenous groups and the descendants of those enslaved by the Dutch want a direct apology — as well as reparations — from the Netherlands for atrocities committed in South Africa during 150 years of colonialism. “If we look at the devastation created by Dutch colonialism in this part of the world, I think a very specific apology addressing South Africa can go some distance,” said Nico Botha, head of a commission for the Khoi and the San, recently established by the South African government.

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Persons: King, Queen, Willem, Alexander, —, ”, Nico Botha Organizations: South Locations: African, Netherlands, Cape Town , South Africa, Cape Town, Dutch, South Africa, Africa