Kagame Accuses Ramaphosa of Distorting Facts, Ready for Confrontation

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Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has accused South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his officials of “lying” and “distorting” discussions between the two leaders. This accusation came in a statement addressed to South Africans on Wednesday.

Kagame’s response followed Ramaphosa’s statement on X (formerly Twitter), where he accused Rwanda of involvement in the deaths of 13 South African peacekeeping troops in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

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Ramaphosa blamed the rebel group M23, allegedly funded by Rwanda, and Rwandan troops for the deaths of the South African soldiers. He stated that the fighting was “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).”

During a media briefing on Wednesday, South Africa’s Minister of Defence, Angie Motshekga, mentioned that Ramaphosa had warned Rwanda that firing on South African troops would be considered an act of war.

Kagame confirmed on his official X page that he and Ramaphosa had held two conversations earlier this week, including one just hours before the statement. He responded to Ramaphosa’s claims, describing them as distortions, attacks, and outright lies. Kagame wrote:

“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 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 provided several clarifications:

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 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.”
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.”

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