SA and Rwanda are ‘rekindling’ relations, says Ramaphosa

Strained diplomatic relations between SA and Rwanda are on the mend after a three-hour bilateral meeting held by the presidents of the two countries on Saturday.

This is according to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who briefed the media on Sunday about his one-on-one meeting with Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in Kigali on Saturday.

Ramaphosa and Kagame held their bilateral meeting ahead of Kigali’s national ceremony on Sunday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the genocide against Rwanda’s Tutsi people.

Going into the Saturday night meeting, diplomatic relations between Pretoria and Kigali were characterised as frosty.

At the heart of the strained relations is SA’s decision to deploy its troops to the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) peace-building commission.

Kagame’s government views Pretoria’s boost of the Sadc mission as a snub and support for the DRC.

Rwanda is seen as pro the M23 rebels who are embroiled in a violent conflict with the DRC army.

The Kagame administration is also unhappy that Ramaphosa’s government requires Rwandans to apply for a visa before travelling to SA, whereas South Africans receive a free 30-day visa upon arrival in Kigali, without prior application.

Ramaphosa on Sunday said he and Kagame discussed their differences at length, saying this marked the “rekindling” of relations between Rwanda and SA.

The two countries are strategic to the development of Africa.

Ramaphosa acknowledged that relations between the countries have “over the years faced some challenges”.

“Last night I had a discussion with him about how we can refashion our relationship and ... deal with [visa-related issues],” said Ramaphosa.

“And we are rekindling and rebuilding that relationship. Those wrinkles will be straightened out.”

Ramaphosa then turned to resolving the clashes over the deployment of the SA National Defence Force in the east of the DRC.

“We all agreed that peace was an essential component of [developing] this part of the continent. And that in doing so we should bring the conflicts in the eastern DRC to an end.

“We agreed that a peaceful, political solution is the best option to any military action.”

Ramaphosa said he also discussed the volatile situation in the east of the DRC with former president Thabo Mbeki, who was also in Kigali for the event, as well as other African leaders. Prominent dignitaries included the former president of the US, Bill Clinton, and Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo. 

In his address at Kigali’s BK Arena, Kagame spoke glowingly of Pretoria.

He commended SA for availing financial and other resources to help its then-collapsed public health system after the genocide.

While SA was ushering a democratic order in April 1994, Rwanda went through the last genocide of the 20th century in that same month.

“The new South Africa paid for Cuban doctors to help rebuild our shattered health system, and opened up its universities to Rwandan students, paying only local fees. Among the hundreds of students who benefited from South Africa’s generosity, some were orphaned survivors; others were the children of perpetrators; and many were neither. Most have gone on to become leaders in our country in different fields. Today, they live a completely new life,” said Kagame.

The Rwandan president also acknowledged the role played by other African nations in the rebuilding and reconstruction of his country since 1994.

He lauded countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Burundi, the DRC itself and Kenya among other states.

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