Sikitele remarks that, although the killing of Belgian officer Maximillien Balot served as a breaking point in the revolt, it is essential to acknowledge the numerous other causes that contributed to the uprising. Balot's death was a significant catalyst, but systematic violence had been inflicted upon the Pende prior to this event. During a lecture given at the conference “The Matter of Critique II” (2015) in Lusanga, professor Sikitele gives a detailed account of the events that led to the outbreak of the Pende revolt in 1931. The causes of the revolt are rooted in multiple instances of abuse and violence, both local and remote.
In 1911, Huileries du Congo Belge (HCB), a subsidiary of Lever Brothers, now Unilever, started developing palm oil plantations all over the Kwilu region, where the Pende lived. From that moment on, the Pende people were forced by the Belgian colonial regime to work on plantations to supply products such as rubber plants, lianas, palm nuts, and kernels to European companies. In addition, it was customary for colonial agents to collect a "native tax" from the local population. During the onset of the economic crisis in the early 1930s, the Pende were required to produce enormous quantities of goods at extremely low prices. As the economic crisis deepened, the “native tax” burden on the Pende increased, forcing them to produce even more in order to earn enough money to pay the tax. This coercion created a cycle of exploitation.
“In 1911, a remarkable system was installed by Unilever: a system of forced labor.”
- Charles Gize Sikitele
While the situation at this point was already critical for the Pende, between 13 and 16 May 1931, two events happened that only worsened their working and living conditions. When messengers arrived to announce the recruitment of palm nut cutters in the Lusanga region, healthy adult men started to flee into the forest in an attempt to avoid recruitment. Exploiting the situation, and the absence of men from the village, colonial agents Burnotte and Van Hombeek looted the village of Kilamba. They arrested and confined women and children to prevent them from feeding the escaped men, thereby forcing the latter to return to the village.When the men returned to Kilamba, they were gathered for recruitment and threatened with whips by colonial agents. Many were injured during this process.
Not only had the colonial officers destructed their village, the Pende also heard about the rape of Kafuchi, the wife of Pende chief Mafuta, while she was held captive. This is the moment when the Pende declared an open revolt. Mafuta assumed leadership of the rebellion, prohibiting all work for the Europeans and the payment of taxes. The Pende decided that they would no longer stand for the presence of Europeans.
Throughout this turmoil, officer Maximilien Balot was assigned the task of collecting the native tax and gathering information about the Tupelepele religious movement, which the chief of the rebellion had previously joined. As Balot headed towards Kilamba, he encountered a crowd that was already rebelling. Balot fired into the crowd, injuring Mafuta's nephew. In response, the enraged crowd swarmed Balot. Shakindungu was identified as the person responsible for Balot's killing. He is presumed to have killed him with a knife or machete while shooting arrows at him, then decapitating him, and dismembering his body.
After killing a powerful enemy, among the Pende people, it was customary to decapitate them and give the head to the supreme chief of the chiefdom, who kept it among his other power objects constituting his power (as chief). In addition, the body was shared between the victors proportionally, according to their importance. These body parts then function as protection for the victorious clan, making them permanently united against the common enemy - in this case the Belgian colonial government.
As a result, a sculpture representing Balot was carved to contain Balot’s angry spirit and make him work for the Pende. The statue was hidden when Belgian military forces searched for the body of Balot and killed hundreds with machine guns. Over the course of the rebellion, which lasted from May to September 1931, more than four thousand people were killed as a result of the death of a single person (Balot). Due to the framing of the revolt being intricately tied with the killing of Balot by the Pende, a lot of prejudices and stereotypes arose about the Pende, depicting them as violent and impulsive. This reputation caused serious consequences for the whole Pende population. After the revolt and before Congo’s independence, the Pende were often prevented from moving to bigger cities within the area and forced to return to their villages once their work contract in the palm oil plantation was over.
The Balot sculpture only reappeared in 1972, when it was sold to the American scholar Herbert Weiss (interviewed in “Part 5: The Collector''), who later sold it to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA). Now held in the permanent collection of the VMFA, the sculpture has been named “Chief's or Diviner's Figure representing the Belgian Colonial Officer, Maximilien Balot". The museum acknowledges that this is an important power figure that was meant to control the spirit of Balot.
About Charles Gize Sikitele
Charles Sikitele Gize, based in Kinshasa, is a graduate of the University of Lubumbashi and is currently professor at the University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN). He wrote and published largely on the history of the Pende, and their 1931 revolt against colonial powers in particular.
Sources
The text on this page draws from the following source:
Charles Gize Sikitele, The Revolt of the Pende, Lecture given on the occasion of the conference “The Matter of Critique II”, 24 September 2016, Lusanga, DRC.
Further reading
Sikitele-Gize, Charles. “La Révolte Pende (Mai-Septembre 1931).” Université Lovanium de Kinshasa, Université Lovanium De Kinshasa, 1971.
Henri Nicolaï, “Le Congo et l’huile de palme. Un siècle. Un cycle ?”, Belgeo, 4 | 2013, mis en ligne le 24 juin 2014.
Vanderstraeten Louis-François. La Répression De La Révolte Des Pende Du Kwango En 1931. Académie Royale Des Sciences D'Outre-Mer, 2001.
Plantations and Museums
“Part 1: The Revolt” is part of the series Plantations and Museums (2021), written and directed by CATPC, Renzo Martens and Jos de Putter. Narration and interviews by Matthieu Kasiama and Ced’art Tamasala. The series is a co-production of Pieter van Huystee Film and VPRO, in collaboration with CATPC and Human Activities, supported by the NPO-fund.
