As tensions continue to simmer in South Africa over the killing of South African soldiers following a fierce battle in Democratic Republic of Congo, the vast country situated in central Africa has accused its neighbour Rwanda of involvement in the heinous acts.
Chief of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF), General Rudzani Maphwanya has told Parliament’s defence portfolio committee that remains of the 14 soldiers who died in Goma, the capital and largest city of North Kivu province in the eastern DRC are expected to arrive on home soil on Wednesday.
Speaking to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, DRC’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, and Francophonie, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, said the joint summit will be a moment of reckoning.
“I think it is a moment of reckoning for us as Africans. I find it particularly distressing when in 2025 we find ourselves in such harrowing situations. The scenes that we have seen from Goma. I find it unbearable that in 2025 we find ourselves in situations where Africans kill other Africans," she said.
“This is not just talking about Rwandan forces killing Congolese (people), but also South Africans, but also people from Malawians, but also people from Tanzania.”
The Kinshasa diplomat insisted that the presence of Rwandan troops on the DRC soil is beyond question.
She said at the high-stakes joint summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) scheduled for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Saturday, to address the deepening crisis in DRC, egos will be set aside
DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame – the main protagonists in the war which has sucked different regions of Africa – are both scheduled to attend the joint summit.
“This is a moment that I really hope that everyone goes beyond their personal egos, beyond whatever has motivated them to engage in such inhumane action that have led to so many years of suffering. We understand as Africans that this is the moment where we change, we reverse the tide, we open a new chapter that is one where we can look at the potential that we have as a continent,” said Wagner.
Kinshasa’s Foreign Minister has expressed condolences to the South African government and the families of the soldiers who lost their lives in the DRC.
The rebel group that claims to have taken control of city of Goma has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, after fierce fighting with the Congolese military and the foreign peacekeepers, which has reportedly left hundreds of people dead.
However, Wagner said the ceasefire is not sufficient.
“The M23 has issued a unilateral ceasefire on humanitarian grounds. We have yet to see what that means concretely. For humanitarian solutions, for humanitarian access to be re-established, first of all we would need Goma to be de-militarised, we would need the M23 to leave immediately as we as the Rwandan Defence Forces which are de facto occupying a sovereign part of the DRC,” she told Newzroom Afrika.
The rebel coalition in the DRC, the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) which includes the M23 armed group has declared the declared the truce which started on Tuesday.
Rwanda has been repeatedly accused of supporting the M23 rebel group, but it denies the allegations.
IOL