Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on Wednesday night that South African troops had no place in the eastern DR Congo battlefield, adding he was ready to “deal” with any confrontation from Pretoria.
Thirteen South African soldiers have died in the past week in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as Rwanda-backed M23 fighters seized more territory, including the key regional city of Goma.
The South Africans were part of the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) peacekeeping force, but also part of the Southern African Development Community’s Mission in DRC (SAMIDRC).
Stay out of DRC issues, Kigali tells SAMIDRC
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kagame said the 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,” he added.
Rwanda says its main goal in eastern DRC is to eradicate the FDLR (the French acronym for the Democratic Liberation Front of Rwanda), formed from remnants of the forces which committed the 1994 genocide that left some 800,000 dead.
Kagame held talks with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday following the troop deaths.
Kagame threatens Ramaphosa and South Africa
However, late on Wednesday night via X, Kagame threw diplomacy aside and denied there were any warnings from South Africa that further clashes would be considered “a declaration of war”, as reported in several media.
But Kagame warned: “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.”
© Agence France-Presse
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