{"id":103271,"date":"2026-01-27T12:14:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T10:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=103271"},"modified":"2026-01-27T12:14:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T10:14:56","slug":"the-africa-report-62","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/the-africa-report-62\/","title":{"rendered":"The Africa Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n27 January 2026 | 12:15 CAT
\n3-minute read<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sincere or hollow? Belgium confronts its role in Lumumba\u2019s assassination<\/strong><\/p>\n

On January 20, 2026, a court in Brussels, Belgium, held a procedural hearing regarding the prosecution of Etienne Davignon, a 93-year-old former diplomat and the sole surviving suspect linked to Patrice Lumumba’s detention and mistreatment. A final decision on whether a criminal trial will proceed is expected on\u00a0March 17, 2026.<\/p>\n

During this week\u2019s Africa Report<\/a>, sessional lecturer and PhD candidate Humaira Mayet discussed the urgent questions about accountability, colonial responsibility and delayed justice that the case raises.<\/p>\n

Belgium\u2019s history is deeply intertwined with that of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and provides context for the current case. Between 1885 and 1908. King Leopold II of Belgium maintained the Congo Free State as his private property, exploiting its resources \u2013 primarily rubber and ivory \u2013 through a regime of extreme violence and forced labour.<\/p>\n

Villagers faced brutal forced labour to meet impossible rubber quotas. To control ammunition use, Leopold\u2019s soldiers were required to provide a severed human hand for every bullet fired\u2014leading to widespread mutilations of living people, including women and children, as “proof” when rubber targets were missed or bullets were used for other purposes.<\/p>\n

Historians estimate that between\u00a010 to 15 million\u00a0Congolese people died during Leopold\u2019s rule due to murder, starvation, and exhaustion.<\/p>\n

Given this context, Belgium\u2019s attempt to confront its past involvement in the murder of Patrice Lumumba is seen by some as a sincere effort at taking responsibility and by others as merely a facade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe perpetrator who\u00a0is standing before the court in Belgium is a 93-year-old man and sometimes it’s too little,\u00a0too late, but perhaps this could actually pave the way for some sort of significant reparations\u00a0around the world,\u201d Mayet, whose research focuses on contemporary colonialism, the global south and the aftermath of imperialism, observed.<\/p>\n

Sahel: The global epicentre of violence<\/strong><\/p>\n

As of early 2026, the\u00a0Sahel\u00a0region in West Africa remains the global epicentre of violence, accounting for\u00a0<\/span>51% of global violence-related deaths. The security situation is characterised by a “coup epidemic,” fragile states, and a massive spillover of violence into coastal West African states.<\/p>\n

Mayet explained that the central Sahelian states\u2014Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger<\/span>\u2014are at the heart of the insurgency. Since 2024, these countries have formed the\u00a0Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a mutual defence pact that has distanced itself from traditional regional blocs like ECOWAS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Alliance of Sahel States\u2026were previously led by very weak leaders,\u00a0with little to no control over the regions, but now come 2025, 2026 are under the control of very\u00a0strong leaders\u2026yet still we see rampant terrorism in the\u00a0area,\u201d Mayet said, noting that insurgent groups receive funds from the US and the EU.<\/p>\n

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is in the process of\u00a0establishing a new counterterrorism force, though it is not yet fully operational. The plan involves activating a 5 000-strong standby force, with an initial brigade of 1 650 personnel expected to begin operations in 2026.<\/p>\n

Sudan: the world\u2019s worst humanitarian disaster<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sudan is facing the worst humanitarian disaster in the world. January 9, 2026 marked 1\u00a0000 days since full-scale civil war broke out in\u00a0Sudan on April 15, 2023. After nearly 3 years of continuous violence, Sudan\u2019s people are paying the price, with an estimated 33,7 million people in need of urgent aid.<\/p>\n

According to reports, it is the world’s largest displacement crisis, with roughly\u00a014 million people\u00a0uprooted. Additionally, 25 million Sudanese are facing acute food insecurity, with famine confirmed in multiple locations, including the\u00a0Zamzam displacement camp\u00a0and cities like\u00a0El Fasher\u00a0and\u00a0Kadugli.<\/p>\n

More than\u00a070% to 80% of hospitals\u00a0in conflict-affected areas are non-functional, which has fuelled massive outbreaks of\u00a0cholera, malaria, dengue fever, and measles.<\/p>\n

The conflict is primarily a power struggle between the\u00a0Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary\u00a0Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.<\/p>\n

Listen <\/strong>to the Africa Report<\/a><\/strong> with Humaira Mayet on Sabaahul Muslim, presented by Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za 27 January 2026 | 12:15 CAT 3-minute read Sincere or hollow? Belgium confronts its role in Lumumba\u2019s assassination On January 20, 2026, a court in Brussels, Belgium, held a procedural hearing regarding the prosecution of Etienne Davignon, a 93-year-old former diplomat and the sole surviving suspect linked to Patrice Lumumba’s detention […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":103037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4996,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-latest-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Africa-Report.jpeg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qRF","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 23:44:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}