Rwanda’s Paul Kagame threatens South Africa, accuses Cyril Ramaphosa of lying

Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola and General of the SANDF Rudzani Maphwanya join Bongani Bingwa.

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Accusations of mistruths and threats of war...

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has taken to X to accuse President Cyril Ramaphosa of misleading South Africans in his recent update on the country's role in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Kagame says Ramaphosa is guilty of 'distortion, deliberate attacks, and even lies' following their telephone conversations this week.

Kagame was responding to a post on X by Ramaphosa on Thursday in which he referred to the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) as a 'militia'.

He reiterated that South Africa's role in the region is one of 'peacekeeping', and not a 'declaration of war against any country or state'.

ALSO READ: Rwanda using M23 rebels to pursue interests - South African Institute of International Affairs

"We do not really want to go into a tit-for-tat diplomatic spat on these matters, because civilian lives are at stake."

- Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations

Lamola reiterated Ramaphosa's comments regarding South Africa's involvement in missions led by SAMIDRC and MONUSCO.

"We are there to help stabilise the situation," he says.

"We are not there on a frolic of our own, as it is suggested in some of the tweets."

- Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations

The deaths in the last week of 13 South African soldiers have seen the Defence Department and the SANDF criticised for their handling of communication around the fatalities.

In his post, Kagame claims Ramaphosa told him that it was not M23 rebels who were responsible, but instead the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

"Is he lying... who killed our soldiers?" asks Bingwa.

Lamola says a thorough investigation is required and refuses to be drawn on whether Ramaphosa made the comments to his Rwandan counterpart.

"It's not that we don't know. We do. But we have to do it in line with the conventions that have been established in this situation."

- Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations

"There are conversations between two presidents. There are those that we will release the transcriptions, and there are those that are confidential."

- Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations

Rudzani Maphwanya is the Chief of the SANDF. He describes the deaths of South African soldiers as 'very unfortunate'.

"Soldiers who are in battle, fight against their adversaries, and at that particular moment, when we deployed, we deployed under SAMIDRC and in the area that is predominately being infested by M23."

- Rudzani Maphwanya, Chief - SANDF 

ALSO READ: Defence Ministry slammed for poor communication on SANDF deaths in DRC

Since the peacekeeping mission began in December 2023, there have been concerns over the SANDF's deployment to the region, specifically around costs and whether the defence force is equipped for such a mission.

Kagama says Ramaphosa asked for support to ensure the South African force has adequate electricity, food and water.

"The aim [of the conversation] was an engagement through the cessation of hostilities. The aim was to engage on a peaceful resolution of the conflict. It was not an aim to request for logistical support."

- Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations

ALSO READ: 'South Africa pulling out of DRC would be a humanitarian catastrophe'

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