[Image: Kopano Tlape / Flickr]
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has accused President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration of “distortion, deliberate attacks and even lies” following talks between the two statesmen.
Relations between the two governments seem to have taken a nosedive, with President Kagame saying: “South Africa is in no position to take on the role of a peacemaker or mediator. If South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day.”
If Africa were a pub, this would be the moment a bouncer comes over to calm things down.
Timeslive reported that tension between the two African leaders escalated after Ramaphosa was forced to make a public statement after the deaths of 13 South African peacekeeping troops in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo between its military and the rebel group M23 – which is said to be funded by Rwanda.
On Wednesday, Minister of Defence Angie Motshekga stated that President Ramaphosa warned Rwanda that firing on South African forces would be considered a declaration of war. She claimed that this was also reported by its generals stationed in Goma, DRC, following the deaths of thirteen soldiers.
According to his statement, the clashes were “the result of an escalation by the rebel group M23 and Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) militia engaging the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and attacking peacekeepers from the Sadc Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC).”
Kagame responded by saying that he had two conversations this week with Ramaphosa on the situation in eastern DRC, but “South African officials and President Ramaphosa’s following statements contain “a lot of distortion, deliberate attacks and even lies”.
“If words can change so much from a conversation to a public statement, it says a lot about how these very important issues are being managed.”
Kagame took umbridge at Ramaphosa’s words, particularly the latter calling Rwanda’s military a “militia”.
“A few important clarifications for the record: The Rwanda Defence Force is an army, not a militia. SAMIDRC is not a peacekeeping force, and it has no place in this situation. It was authorised by Sadc as a belligerent force engaging in offensive combat operations to help the DRC government fight against its own people, working alongside genocidal armed groups like FDLR which target Rwanda, while also threatening to take the war to Rwanda itself.”
“President Ramaphosa has never given a ‘warning’ of any kind, unless it was delivered in his local language which I do not understand.”
I held two conversations this week with President Ramaphosa on the situation in Eastern DRC, including earlier today. What has been said about these conversations in the media by South African officials and President Ramaphosa himself contains a lot of distortion, deliberate… https://t.co/i78aqtVjpr
— Paul Kagame (@PaulKagame) January 29, 2025
The Rwandan president said Ramaphosa “did ask for support to ensure the South African force has adequate electricity, food and water, which we shall help communicate”.
We really can’t afford enemies outside our borders at the moment, so Ramaphosa will hopefully smooth things over with Kagame in the coming days.
[Source: Timeslive]