"Rwanda ready for confrontation with South Africa 'any day'" - President Kagame

By Our Correspondent, KIGALI Rwanda

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, says Rwanda is prepared for a confrontation with South Africa if necessary ‘any day’. Underscoring rising tensions between the two nations over the conflict in the DRC and the role of external forces in the region.

This follows South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa’s claim that M23 rebels and Rwanda’s defence force were responsible for the deaths of 13 South African soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Kagame says Ramaphosa had not warned Rwanda about its military activities in the DRC but instead requested logistical support while acknowledging South Africa’s efforts for peace.

Kagame asserted that South Africa is not in a position to act as a peacemaker or mediator and warned that if South Africa seeks confrontation, Rwanda will respond accordingly.

Kagame clarified details of his recent conversations with Ramaphosa, stating, “What has been said about these conversations in the media by South African officials and President Ramaphosa himself contains 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.”

In the statement on X Kagame provided the following:

1. The Rwanda Defence Force is an army, not a militia.

2. 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.

4. 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.

5. President Ramaphosa confirmed to me that M23 did not kill the soldiers from South Africa, FARDC did. 

6. 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.

He was reacting to the statement made by President Ramaphosa on X condoling with the families of the deceased and injured soldiers.

In the statement, South Africa President said that following the recent intensification of fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa has lost 13 brave soldiers who were dedicated to their mission and committed to peace.

“The fighting is 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).” Said Ramaphosa.

He said the attacks on peacekeepers resulted in the deaths of SAMIDRC members from other troop contributing countries, namely, Malawi and Tanzania, as well members of the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) brigade.

“We honour all the lives that were lost and pass our condolences to their families, governments and citizens. The situation in Goma and Sake, where our troops and their counterparts are stationed, remains very tense, volatile and unpredictable.”