In an unprecedented escalation of hostilities the President of Rwanda Paul Kagame has threatened war against South Africa if it maintained a presence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kagame, a military strongman, made the threat in direct reply to South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on social media platform X.
“If South Africa wants to contribute to peaceful solutions, that is well and good, but South Africa is in no position to take on the role of a peacemaker or mediator. And if South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day,” said Kagame.
Kagame also took exception of Ramaphosa referring to the Rwandan army as militia.He accused Ramaphosa and the government of lying about the DRC deployment and discussions between them.The government claimed Ramaphosa had expressed displeasure to Kagame and warned that firing at SA soldiers would be seen as a declaration of war but the Rwanda president denied such things were said even suggesting Ramaphosa in fact grovelled, pleading for restoration of amenities for the South African army base in Goma following destruction caused by heavy exchange of fire.
“President Ramaphosa has never given a “warning” of any kind, unless it was delivered in his local language which I do not understand. He did ask for support to ensure the South African force has adequate electricity, food and water, which we shall help communicate,” said a rather buoyant Kagame on X.
The South African government has faced questions locally about the motives behind the deployment of soldiers in the DRC with some suggesting the force could be there to protect the business interests of a few connected individuals and Kagame has given those allegations credence by insisting the SANDF was not part of a peacekeeping operation but full participants ( fighting on the side of the DRC government).
“SAMIDRC is not a peacekeeping force, and it has no place in this situation. It was authorized 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. 3. SAMIDRC displaced a true peacekeeping force, the East African Community Regional Force, and this contributed to the failure of the negotiation processes,” said Kagame casting doubt on South Africa’s official version which is that the 13 SANDF soldiers died in the crossfire and not necessarily as a result of being targeted.
Just hours ahead of Kagame’s comments, South Africa’s international relations minister Ronald Lamola had warned that firing on the South African soldiers who are currently on the ground in eastern DRC could constitute a war crime as they’re designated peacekeepers and not an army in active combat.The government has not made public, details of the repatriation of the remains of the 13 slain soldiers.In 2013, 13 South Africans were killed during an ambush by the Seleka rebels in the Central African Republic where the official version was that they were in the country to train as well as help professionals the local force.
Kagame’s comments which are yet to be responded to by Pretoria are a spanner in the works for the continent as both South Africa and Rwanda are considered key players in security efforts. The two are fighting alongside each other in Mozambique where they are helping the government fight relentless Islamic insurgents in Copa Delgado province.