Kagame reflects on SA’s role in helping rebuild Rwanda post genocide

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, says he would like to see a situation where the relationship between South Africa and Rwanda returns to normalcy. The relationship between the two countries was affected years ago after a former intelligence chief who fled to South Africa was found murdered in a hotel in Johannesburg.

Speaking exclusively to the SABC in Kigali, Kagame says the East Africa Community and the SADC peacekeeping forces should have worked together to bring stability to the Eastern part of the DRC.

South Africa has soldiers in the DRC as part of the SADC’s mission to fight against armed rebel groups in the east which Kagame says could have been avoided.

Kagame however says Pretoria played a key role in helping Kigali to build the capacity of the State after the 1994 Genocide that led to the killing of a million people.

On Sunday Rwanda will mark thirty years since that tragedy.

Kagame says, “Because South Africa facilitated and also facilitated how these people should come there and they were almost paying fees at the expense of South Africans. It was a wonderful thing. There was no issue issuing visas and it was a huge contribution to what we have today.

He also says, “The M23 we are talking about is not just about 1000, 2000 or 6000 or whatever number with the arms fighting. We have hundreds of thousands of people here who are in their category and their family members who have been uprooted from the Eestern Congo and are staying here in Rwanda in the camp for the last 23 years.”

VIDEO | Kagame reflects on SA’s role in helping to build state capacity after genocide: