‘South Africa even dares to issue threats?’ Rwanda’s Paul Kagame insists SANDF is working alongside DRC militia.
Published Jan 30, 2025
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has reacted angrily to the warning issued by South Africa following the killing of 13 members of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) who were part of the regional peacekeeping force comprised of militaries from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania.
On Wednesday, IOL reported that Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga told journalists that President Cyril Ramaphosa has issued a warning to Rwanda, saying continued hostilities against SANDF members would be taken as a declaration of war.
Rwanda is accused of backing the M23 rebels, but it consistently denies the reports.
In a widely circulating video shared by the Presidency in Rwanda, Kagame told fellow leaders at an Extraordinary Summit of East African Community (EAC) heads of State on Wednesday that he has had two telephonic conversations with President Ramaphosa in recent days.
“South Africa even dares to issue threats about what is going to happen after that and so on and so forth. Of course, we will see what threats they are talking about. Maybe they should have done that which they are issuing threats, they should have done it to clean up the mess in Congo, or to fight back those who have been trying to clean up the mess,” he said.