Protesters heckle Dutch royals at Cape Town slavery museum

Around 100 protesters confronted the Dutch royal couple as they made an official visit to a slavery museum in South Africa on Friday.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima were visiting the Slave Lodge building in central Cape Town, a museum that traces part of their country's 150-year-long involvement in slavery in South Africa.

Security guards were seen holding back protesters who chanted calls for reparations as the royal couple left the building.

The king and queen were put into a car by security personnel and quickly driven away as some of the protesters, including First Nations people wearing traditional animal-skin dress, jostled with police.

The engagement was part of Willem-Alexander's first visit to the African continent since he became king 10 years ago.

Royal visit should 'exorcise some ghosts'

At the Slave Lodge, which was built in 1679, Willem-Alexander and Maxima walked through the same rooms where enslaved men, women and children were held under Dutch colonial rule.

The Dutch colonized the southwestern part of South Africa for more than 150 years, and this legacy is still reflected in modern-day South Africa, most notably in the Afrikaans language, which is derived from Dutch and is widely spoken.

The Dutch royal couple did not make any speeches during their visit.

Garth Erasmus, a First Nations representative who accompanied the king and queen on their walk through the Slave Lodge, said their visit should serve to "exorcise some ghosts."

First Nations people speak up

Many of the protesters belonged to South Africa's First Nations groups, who are also collectively known as Khoisan people.

They are the earliest inhabitants of the region around Cape Town and are separate from the groups that make up South Africa's Black majority.

Although many of the people who were enslaved in the Cape Colony came from other parts of Africa or Asia, many were also First Nations people who were forced off their land.

They say this history has largely been forgotten in South Africa, which instead is often defined by the apartheid era.

In July, Willem-Alexander apologized on behalf of the Netherlands for the centuries-long enslavement of people in Dutch colonies.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa accepted the apology and said it was an important step towards reconciliation.

zc/jcg (AP, dpa)