Tag: Cyril Ramaphosa

Top Policeman Shakes South Africa With Explosive Allegations About His Boss

A highly respected police officer has shaken South Africa’s government – and won the admiration of many ordinary people – with his explosive allegations that organised crime groups have penetrated the upper echelons of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration.

Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi did it in dramatic style – dressed in military-like uniform and surrounded by masked police officers with automatic weapons, he called a press conference to accuse Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of having ties to criminal gangs.

He also said his boss had closed down an elite unit investigating political murders after it uncovered a drug cartel with tentacles in the business sector, prison department, prosecution service and judiciary.

“We are on combat mode, I am taking on the criminals directly,” he declared, in an address broadcast live on national TV earlier this month.

South Africans have long been concerned about organised crime, which, leading crime expert Dr Johan Burger pointed out, was at a “very serious level”.

One of the most notorious cases was that of South Africa’s longest-serving police chief, Jackie Selebi, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2010 after being convicted of taking bribes from an Italian drug lord, Glen Agliotti, in exchange for turning a blind eye to his criminal activity.

But Gen Mkhwanazi’s intervention was unprecedented – the first time that a police officer had publicly accused a cabinet member, let alone the one in charge of policing, of having links to criminal gangs.

The reaction was instantaneous. Mchunu dismissed the allegations as “wild and baseless” and said he “stood ready to respond to the accusations”, but the public rallied around Gen Mkhwanazi – the police commissioner in KwaZulu-Natal – despite the province also being Mchunu’s political turf.

#HandsoffNhlanhlaMkhwanazi topped the trends list on X, in a warning shot to the government not to touch the 52-year-old officer.

“He’s [seen as] a no-nonsense person who takes the bull by the horn,” Calvin Rafadi, a crime expert based at South Africa’s University of Johannesburg, told the BBC.

South Africans have come to Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s support following his explosive claims

Gen Mkhwanazi first earned public admiration almost 15 years ago when, in his capacity as South Africa’s acting police chief, he suspended crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli, a close ally of then-President Jacob Zuma.

Mdluli was later sentenced to five years in jail for kidnapping, assault, and intimidation, vindicating Gen Mkhwanazi’s view that he was a rotten apple within the police service.

Gen Mkhwanazi faced enormous pressure to shield Mdluli, with his political bosses assuming that the officer, aged only 38 at the time, would be “open to manipulation [but] they were grossly mistaken”, said Dr Burger.

Not only did he push ahead with Mdluli’s suspension, he also made claims of political interference during an appearance in Parliament.

While this move earned him brownie points with citizens, his public outburst did him no favours and he was axed barely a year into the job and shunted back into obscurity for a number of years.

The Richard Mdluli saga shaped public opinion on Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in 2011

He made a dramatic comeback in 2018 when then-Police Minister Bheki Cele appointed him to the provincial police chief post, with one of his major tasks being to investigate killings in a province where competition for political power – and lucrative state tenders – is fierce.

It would be the disbandment of this investigative unit by Mr Mchunu that led to Gen Mkhwanazi’s explosive briefing a fortnight ago, complaining that 121 case dockets were “gathering dust” at the national police headquarters.

“I will die for this [police] badge. I will not back down,” Gen Mkhwanazi said, in line with his reputation of being a brave and selfless officer who cannot be captured by a corrupt political and business elite.

A survey by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSCRC) shows that public trust in the police stands at an all-time low of 22%,

The police force has long been plagued by issues of political interference, corruption and a seeming inability to effectively tackle the high crime levels.

The crisis has also reached the force’s upper structures, with about 10 different police chiefs since 2000 – one has been convicted of corruption and another currently faces criminal charges.

“The dysfunction is across all levels,” Gareth Newham of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS) think-tank told the BBC, adding that “there are many dynamics within the police service that need to be fixed”.

But Gen Mkhwanazi’s tenure has not been without controversy. He was the subject of an investigation by the police watchdog, following a complaint that he interfered in a criminal investigation into a senior prisons official.

However, he was cleared of the charge last month, with the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) saying the complaint was “designed to derail a committed officer who has been unrelenting in his fight against crime and corruption”.

Gen Mkhwanazi’s team has also faced criticism for their heavy-handed approach towards criminal suspects, who are sometimes shot dead in confrontations with officers under his command.

Mr Newham said that with Gen Mkhwanazi seen as the “cop’s cop”, the public was willing to turn a blind eye to his officers’ alleged abuses because “they want to have a hero in the police”.

With Mchunu sent packing, South Africa will have a new acting police minister from next month – Firoz Cachalia, a law professor who comes from a renowned family of anti-apartheid activists, and served as minister of Community Safety in Gauteng, South Africa’s economic heartland, from 2004 to 2009.

In an interview with local TV station Newzroom Afrika, Cachalia said that Gen Mkhwanazi’s decision to go public with his explosive allegations was “highly unusual”, but if they turned out to be true then “we will be able to see in retrospect that he was perfectly justified in doing what he did”.

So Gen Mkhwanazi’s credibility is on the line – either he proves his allegations against Mchunu or he could fall on his sword.

But for now he has cemented his reputation as a brave police officer who took on his political bosses – twice.

(BBC)

July 19, 2025
Ramaphosa Struggles to Mend Fences With Trump

The Trump administration is treating South Africa almost like a pariah, blacklisting its envoys, refusing to send top-level officials to meetings it hosts, and threatening to hit the nation with such high tariffs that its economic crisis is likely to deepen.

The latest sign of this came with the revelation by the second-biggest party in South Africa’s coalition government, the Democratic Alliance (DA), that the US government had rejected President Cyril Ramaphosa’s special envoy, denying him a diplomatic visa in May and refusing to recognise him as an “official interlocutor”.

Ramaphosa had created the post for Mcebisi Jonas, the non-executive chairman of mobile phone giant MTN and a respected former deputy finance minister, to improve South Africa’s rock-bottom relationship with the US.

Ramaphosa’s spokesman accused the DA of “disinformation”, but did not explicitly deny the party’s claim. The US State Department declined to comment when contacted by the BBC, citing “visa record confidentiality”.

Jonas’s appointment came after President Donald Trump had cut off aid to South Africa, accused Ramaphosa’s government of persecuting white people, condemned it for binging a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and for “reinvigorating” relations with Iran – an implacable foe of the US.

Priyal Singh, a South Africa foreign policy expert at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies think-tank, told the BBC that if the DA’s claims about Jonas were true, it would be in line with the Trump administration’s strategy to give South Africa the “cold shoulder, and cut off channels of communication that it so desperately needs”.

The US has not only cut back bilateral relations with South Africa, but also boycotted it in global bodies like the G20 – which Ramaphosa currently chairs, hoping to advance the interests of developing nations in talks with the world’s richest states.

The latest sign of this was US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s decision to skip Thursday’s meeting of G20 finance ministers in South Africa, preferring to send a lower-ranking official instead.

Bessent skipped a similar meeting in February, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio stayed away from a meeting of G20 foreign ministers, saying Ramaphosa’s government was doing “very bad things” and he could not “coddle anti-Americanism”.

Ramaphosa had hoped to get relations with the US back on an even keel after Trump invited him to the Oval Office in May – only for the US president to ambush him by showing footage and brandishing a sheaf of spurious reports to advance his widely discredited claim that a genocide was taking place against white people in South Africa.

Jonas was strikingly absent from Ramaphosa’s high-powered delegation, giving credence to the DA’s claim that he was unwelcome in Washington.

This put South Africa back to square one as the US had expelled its ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, after he accused Trump, in a leaked speech given at a meeting of a think-tank, of “mobilising a supremacism” and trying to “project white victimhood as a dog whistle” as the white population faced becoming a minority in the US.

In a politically odd decision, Ramaphosa left the post vacant, despite its significance, suggesting that his government had a dearth of well qualified career diplomats who could rebuild relations with South Africa’s second-biggest trading partner.

Instead, Ramaphosa pinned his hopes on a special envoy who, he said at the time of Jonas’s appointment, would “lead negotiations, foster strategic partnerships and engage with US government officials and private-sector leaders to promote our nation’s interests”.

But it is unclear how Ramaphosa expected Jonas to achieve this given that he, like Rasool, had made controversial remarks about Trump, calling him a “racist” and a “narcissistic right-winger” in a 2020 speech that came back to haunt him after his appointment.

This was compounded by the fact that MTN had a 49% stake in Iran’s telecom company IranCell, a major concern for the US.

Compared to its previous stances, South Africa was “more circumspect” – as Mr Singh put it – in its response to US air strikes on Iran in June, merely saying that it viewed the conflict with “great anxiety” and hoped that it could be resolved through dialogue.

W Gyude Moore, a policy analyst at the US-based Center for Global Development, told the BBC that it was not surprising that South Africa was in Trump’s firing line.

He pointed out that South Africa championed what Trump’s support-base saw as “woke culture”. For instance, Ramaphosa regarded the G20 as a forum through which to promote international “solidarity, equality and sustainability”, which Rubio had opposed, equating it to “diversity, equity and inclusion”, as well as climate change.

Mr Moore said this was also borne out in the Trump’s administration’s attitude towards South Africa’s “black empowerment” policy, accusing it of “race-based discrimination” against white people. Ramaphosa’s government sees it as necessary to address the legacy of the racist system of apartheid.

“I cannot see how the differences can be resolved. South Africa will just have to carry on, and strengthen ties with other countries. It’s not the only one in the crosshairs of the Trump administration,” Mr Moore added.

But it is a major blow to South Africa, as it had maintained strong trade and aid relations with successive Republican and Democratic administrations despite having sharp differences with them.

Mr Singh pointed out that South Africa, for example, opposed the Republican George W Bush’s war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but South Africa still benefited from Pepfar, the programme he had established to tackle HIV/Aids, until the Trump administration slashed funding earlier this year.

“The Trump administration is completely different, and caught everyone off-guard. South Africa will just have to weather out the storm, and try to mitigate the damage,” Mr Singh said.

But the economic consequences could be devastating – especially if Trump imposes 30% tariffs on South African goods from 1 August, as he has threatened to do.

South Africa’s central bank chief Lesetja Kganyago said the tariffs could lead to around 100,000 job losses – worrying for a country where the unemployment rate stands at a staggering 32.9%.

The tariffs would hit South Africa’s agriculture sector hard. This is ironic as Trump has portrayed himself as a champion of the country’s Afrikaner farmers, offering them refugee status in the US.

It also gives them an opportunity to farm in the US and boost its economy in line with Trump’s “America First” policy.

(BBC)

July 17, 2025
Is There a Genocide of White South Africans as Trump Claims?

US President Donald Trump has given members of South Africa’s Afrikaner community refugee status, alleging that a genocide was taking place in the country.

Nearly 60 of them have arrived in the US after being granted asylum.

The South African government allowed the US embassy to consider their applications inside the country, and let the group board a chartered flight from the main international airport in Johannesburg – not scenes normally associated with refugees fleeing persecution.

Trump later confronted South Africa’s president about the allegations in a packed White House meeting attended by his South African-born adviser Elon Musk and scores of journalists. It was a high-profile encounter that has also rarely been seen during humanitarian crises.

Who are the Afrikaners?

South African History Online sums up their identity by pointing out that “the modern Afrikaner is descended mainly from Western Europeans who settled on the southern tip of Africa during the middle of the 17th Century”.

A mixture of Dutch (34.8%), German (33.7%) and French (13.2%) settlers, they formed a “unique cultural group” which identified itself “completely with African soil”, South African History Online noted.

Their language, Afrikaans, is quite similar to Dutch.

But as they planted their roots in Africa, Afrikaners, as well as other white communities, forced black people to leave their land.

Afrikaners are also known as Boers, which actually means farmer, and the group is still closely associated with farming.

In 1948, South Africa’s Afrikaner-led government introduced apartheid, or apartness, taking racial segregation to a more extreme level.

This included laws which banned marriages across racial lines, reserved many skilled and semi-skilled jobs for white people, and forced black people to live in what were called townships and homelands.

They were also denied a decent education, with Afrikaner leader Hendrik Verwoerd infamously remarking in the 1950s that “blacks should never be shown the greener pastures of education. They should know their station in life is to be hewers of wood and drawers of water”.

Afrikaner dominance of South Africa ended in 1994, when black people were allowed to vote for the first time in a nationwide election, bringing Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) to power.

Afrikaners currently number more than 2.5 million out of a population of more than 60 million – about 4%.

Is a genocide being committed?

Afrikaners make up about 4% of South Africa’s population

None of South Africa’s political parties – including those that represent Afrikaners and the white community in general – have claimed that there is a genocide in South Africa.

But such claims have been circulating among right-wing groups for many years, and during his first term, Trump referred to the “large scale killing of farmers” in South Africa.

Some white farmers have been killed but a lot of misleading information has been circulated online.

In February, a South African judge dismissed the idea of a genocide as “clearly imagined” and “not real”, when ruling in an inheritance case involving a wealthy benefactor’s donation to white supremacist group Boerelegioen.

South Africa does not release crime figures based on race but the latest figures revealed that 6,953 people were murdered in the country between October and December 2024.

Of these, 12 were killed in farm attacks. Of the 12, one was a farmer, while five were farm dwellers and four were employees, who are likely to have been black.

What have Trump and Musk said?

Defending his decision to give Afrikaners refugee status, Trump said that a “genocide” was taking place in South Africa, white farmers were being “brutally killed” and their “land is being confiscated”.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has said it was “completely false” to claim that “people of a certain race or culture are being targeted for persecution”.

Referring to the first group who have moved to the US, Ramaphosa previously said: “They are leaving because they don’t want to embrace the changes that are taking place in our country and our constitution.”

At a meeting at the White House in May, Trump ambushed his counterpart by playing videos which he claimed showed proof of a genocide. The videos included an opposition politician singing a song that some say evokes violence against white South Africans.

Ramaphosa, who had brought white South African golfers to the meeting to meet Trump, condemned what was shown in the video and also explained to Trump that South Africa allows free expression.

Trump also displayed photos of white people he said had been murdered, prompting Ramaphosa to remind him that such crimes affect people of any race.

The White House meeting was also attended by Trump’s close adviser Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa.

Leaving the White House, Ramaphosa said he thought the meeting had gone well, and that Trump still has some doubts as to whether a genocide is taking place.

Trump also said he was not sure how he could attend the G20 summit of world leaders, due to be held in South Africa later this year, in such an environment.

The government denies that land is being confiscated from farmers, saying that a bill Ramaphosa signed into law in January was aimed at addressing the land dispossession that black people faced during white-minority rule.

But the law has been condemned by the Democratic Alliance (DA), Ramaphosa’s main coalition partner in government. The DA say it will challenge the law in South Africa’s highest court, as it threatens property rights.

Musk has referred to the country’s “racist ownership laws”, alleging that his satellite internet service provider Starlink was “not allowed to operate in South Africa simply because I’m not black”.

To operate in South Africa, Starlink needs to obtain network and service licences, which both require 30% ownership by historically disadvantaged groups.

This mainly refers to South Africa’s majority black population, which was shut out of the economy during the racist system of apartheid.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) – a regulatory body in the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors – told the BBC that Starlink had never submitted an application for a licence.

Musk has also accused the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the fourth-largest party in South Africa, of “actively promoting” a genocide through a song it sings at its rallies.

Why does a political party sing about shooting Boers?

Julius Malema is a controversial politician who advocates the nationalisation of land in South Africa

EFF leader Julius Malema’s trademark song is “Shoot the Boer, Shoot the farmer”, which he sings at political rallies.

Afrikaner lobby groups have tried to get the song banned, saying it was highly inflammatory and amounted to hate speech.

However, South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal has ruled that Malema is within his rights to sing the lyrics – first popularised during the anti-apartheid struggle – at political rallies.

The court ruled that a “reasonably well-informed person” would understand that when “protest songs are sung, even by politicians, the words are not meant to be understood literally, nor is the gesture of shooting to be understood as a call to arms or violence”.

Instead, the song was a “provocative way” of advancing the EFF’s political agenda – which was to end “land and economic injustice”.

Lobby group AfriForum filed an appeal against the ruling, but South Africa’s highest court refused to hear the case, saying it had little chance of succeeding.

In 2023, South Africa’s former President Thabo Mbeki urged Malema to stop singing the song, saying it was no longer politically relevant as the anti-apartheid struggle was over.

The ANC says it no longer sings it, but it cannot “prescribe to other political parties what they must sing”.

Do white people face discrimination in South Africa?

Even though white-minority rule ended in 1994, its effects are still being felt.

Average living standards are far higher for the white community than black people.

White people occupy 62.1% of top management posts, despite only accounting for 7.7% of the country’s economically active population, according to a recent report by South Africa’s Commission for Employment Equity.

The government has tried to change this through what it calls “economic empowerment” and “employment equity” laws.

An amended version of the second act includes strict targets for companies aimed at increasing the number of non-white employees.

While these laws have been welcomed by many South Africans, some members of racial minorities feel they make it harder for them to get jobs and government contracts. There has also been criticism that they can lead to corruption, for example when business opportunities are given to friends and relatives of officials.

Among the critics have been the Democratic Alliance, which despite being part of the governing coalition, recently challenged the amended Employment Equity Act in court, saying it would “make far more people marginalised in our economy than they already are”.

Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie recently came under fire when a job in his department was advertised as being only open to the Coloured, Asian and white populations.

He defended this move, saying he was applying the Employment Equity Act and ensuring “all races are represented”, because most of the people in his department were black.

Do most Afrikaners want to move to the US?

Some Afrikaners see US President Donald Trump as an ally

It doesn’t look like it.

In March, a business group said that close to 70,000 Afrikaners had expressed interest in moving to the US following Trump’s offer – from an estimated population of 2.5 million.

The US embassy in South Africa then released a statement clarifying the criteria for resettlement, saying it covered people from any racial minority, not just Afrikaners, who could cite an incident of past persecution or fear of persecution in the future.

One Afrikaner who moved to the US told BBC News that he is grateful to Trump for granting him asylum.

“I felt finally somebody in this world is seeing what’s going on,” said Charl Kleinhaus.

South Africa’s most recent census, done in 2022, shows that Coloureds, (an officially used term meaning people of mixed racial origin) are the largest minority, making up 8% of the population. They are followed by white people, including Afrikaners, at 7%, and Asians at 3%.

After Trump’s offer, Afrikaner lobby group Solidarity posted an article on its website headlined: “Ten historical reasons to stay in South Africa”.

In parliament, the leader of the right-wing Freedom Front Plus party said they were committed to South Africa.

“We are bound to Africa and will build a future for ourselves and our children here,” Corné Mulder said.

(BBC)

May 22, 2025
Trump Sanctions South Africa

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order freezing financial aid to South Africa, after threatening to do so earlier this week.

Trump said he was bringing in the order because of South Africa’s new land law, which he says is violating people’s rights, and also because of its international court case accusing Israel of genocide.

It escalates a dispute between the two countries nearly a week after Trump threatened to cut funding without citing evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land” and “certain classes of people” were being treated “very badly”.

Trump’s close adviser Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, also joined in the criticism asking on X why Ramaphosa had “openly racist ownership laws”.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has not yet commented but previously defended South Africa’s land policy after Trump’s threat on Sunday.

He said the government had not confiscated any land and the policy was aimed at ensuring equitable public access to land.

President Ramaphosa’s law was signed last month, and allows land seizures without compensation in certain circumstances.

Land ownership has long been a contentious issue in South Africa with most private farmland owned by white people, 30 years after the end of the racist system of apartheid.

There have been continuous calls for the government to address land reform and deal with the past injustices of racial segregation.

South Africa’s new law allows for expropriation without compensation only in circumstances where it is “just and equitable and in the public interest” to do so.

This includes if the property is not being used and there is no intention to either develop or make money from it, or when it poses a risk to people.

The order said the US “cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country”, and as long as it “continues these unjust and immoral practices” then the US will not provide aid or assistance.

The White House said Washington will also formulate a plan to resettle South African farmers and their families as refugees.

It said US officials will take steps to prioritise humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program for Afrikaners in South Africa, who are mostly white descendants of early Dutch and French settlers.

The executive order also references South Africa’s role in bringing accusations of genocide against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The order said: “In addition, South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the ICJ, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.”

On Sunday, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social: “I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”

He later said, in a briefing with journalists, that South Africa’s “leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things”.

“So that’s under investigation right now. We’ll make a determination, and until such time as we find out what South Africa is doing – they’re taking away land and confiscating land, and actually they’re doing things that are perhaps far worse than that.”

But, on Monday, Ramaphosa moved to defuse the row with Trump’s new US administration over the new land law by speaking to Musk on the phone.

Ramaphosa’s office said, in that call to Musk the president “reiterated South Africa’s constitutionally embedded values of the respect for the rule of law, justice, fairness and equality”.

February 8, 2025
‪Keep Your America, Ramaphosa Hits Back At Trump‬

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has hit back at over threats to cut funding for alleged land confiscation and mistreatment of certain groups.

This comes hours after Trump took to his official X page to assert that South Africa was “confiscating” land and “treating certain classes of people very badly” as he announced plans to cut off all future funding to the country pending an investigation.

Speaking at a function Monday morning, Ramaphosa urged Trump to stop meddling in South African affairs.

“I don’t know what Trump has to do with South Africa because he has never been here. He should keep his America and we keep our South Africa. South Africa is our land, South Africa belongs to all the people who have been living here,” he said.

“He can keep his America. Donald Trump must leave us alone because he did not help us fight apartheid, we did it on our own. He was not on the table when we negotiated. We will find solutions to our problems,”

The land issue in South Africa has long been divisive, with efforts to redress the inequality of white-rule drawing criticism from conservatives including Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, who was born in South Africa and is a powerful Trump adviser.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last month signed a bill that stipulates the government may, in certain circumstances, offer “nil compensation” for property it decides to expropriate in the public interest.

“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!” Trump wrote.

February 3, 2025
Trump To Cut Off Funding For South Africa

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday, without citing evidence, that “certain classes of people” in South Africa were being treated “very badly” and that he would cut off funding for the country until the matter is investigated.

“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

“The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!” he said.

It is unclear what led to Trump’s post.

The South African embassy in Washington D.C. did not respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours.

The United States obligated nearly $440 million in assistance to South Africa in 2023, the most recent U.S. government data showed.

South Africa currently holds the G20 presidency, after which the U.S. takes over.

Last month, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was not worried about the country’s relationship with Trump. He said he had spoken to Trump after the latter’s election victory and looked forward to working with his administration.

During his first administration, Trump said the U.S. would investigate unproven large-scale killings of white farmers in South Africa and violent takeovers of land. Pretoria at the time said Trump was misinformed. It is unclear whether the Trump administration carried out an investigation.

Trump’s close ally Elon Musk was born in South Africa. In 2023, Musk replied on X to a video of a far-left South African political party singing an old anti-apartheid song, “Kill the Boer”, by stating: “They are openly pushing for genocide of white people in South Africa.”

“@CyrilRamaphosa, why do you say nothing?” Musk asked.

February 3, 2025
DRC Conflict: Why Are M23 Rebels Fighting?

Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebels are moving south towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, in what appears to be an attempt to expand their area of control in the country’s east after capturing the city of Goma.

The latest advances are part of a major escalation of a decades-old conflict over power, identity and resources that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced more than 1 million since its recent resurgence.

What is happening in Goma?

After entering Goma on Monday night, the rebels faced pockets of resistance, particularly around strategic areas including the airport. They took control of the airport by Tuesday evening, and hundreds of government troops and allied militia laid down their weapons.

By Wednesday morning, the rebels were in control of the devastated city, where some corpses could still be seen in the streets. Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), which includes Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebels, told Reuters on Tuesday that they plan to govern Goma.

M23 forces were later advancing south from the town of Minova, along the western side of Lake Kivu, towards Bukavu, five diplomatic and security sources said.

Who are M23?

M23, which refers to the March 23, 2009, accord that ended a previous Tutsi-led revolt in eastern Congo, is the latest group of ethnic Tutsi-led insurgents to take up arms against Congolese forces. It launched the current rebellion in 2022.

The group has accused the government of Congo of not living up to the peace deal and fully integrating Congolese Tutsis into the army and administration.

It also vows to defend Tutsi interests, particularly against ethnic Hutu militias such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), founded by Hutus who fled Rwanda after participating in the 1994 genocide of close to 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Since the start of 2025, the rebels have seized new territory and reached Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, prompting hundreds of thousands more people to flee their homes.

For more than a year, M23 has controlled Congo’s coltan-mining region of Rubaya, generating an estimated $800,000 per month through a production tax, according to the U.N. Coltan is used in the production of smartphones and other equipment.

The group’s spread into new territories in recent weeks gives it scope to acquire more mining revenue, analysts say.

Why is Rwanda involved?

The government of Congo, U.N. officials and Western powers including the United States have accused Congo’s neighbour Rwanda of fuelling the conflict by deploying thousands of its own troops and heavy weapons on Congolese soil in support of M23.

The accusations are based on a 2022 report by a U.N. Group of Experts that said it had “solid evidence” that Rwandan troops had been fighting alongside the M23 rebels.

Rwanda, which denies backing the rebels, says it has taken what it calls defensive measures and accuses Congo of fighting alongside the FDLR, which has attacked Tutsis in both countries.

Rwanda has a long history of military intervention inside Congo. It and Uganda invaded in 1996 and 1998, claiming they were defending themselves against local militia groups and going after the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

What are UN peacekeepers and other forces doing?

U.N. peacekeepers had been supporting the Congolese army’s efforts to curb the M23 as part of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (MONUSCO) years-old mandate to counter the many rebel groups active in eastern Congo.

An agreed withdrawal of the mission from Congo has been paused because of the deteriorating security situation. As of December, there were nearly 11,000 peacekeepers on the ground, mostly in the east.

Since the fall of Goma, the mission has evacuated some of its staff and families. Its base has received a large number of people seeking refuge, including government and army officials and various elements including the pro-government Wazalendo militia fighters who have surrendered their arms.

Private military contractors who were hired by the Congolese government to help in the fight against M23 and to train troops have also surrendered.

Rwanda’s defence force said 280 of them had surrendered to M23. Reuters reporters saw dozens of Romanian mercenaries who had been hired by Congo crossing into Rwanda — the start of their journey home, one said

The 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), which extended its military mission in Congo late last year to help the Congolese army fight the rebels, remains in place.

Both forces have suffered losses since the start of 2025.

(Reuters)

January 30, 2025
‪‘If South Africa Prefers Confrontation, Rwanda Will Deal With The Matter In That Context Any Day’: Kagame Issues Stern Warning To Ramaphosa Amid Congo Crisis‬

In a stern rebuke that could escalate into a regional crisis, Rwandan President Paul Kagame has sharply warned South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that any preference for confrontation over diplomacy in the ongoing turmoil in Eastern Congo will be met with decisive action.

The rare statement, made via a public post on X (formerly Twitter), underscores a dramatic escalation in the already tense relations between Kigali and Pretoria.

Following confidential conversations held virtually by the two Heads of State on two occasions, Ramaphosa and other South African officials made statements which Kagame said contained a lot of distortion, deliberate attacks, and even lies.

The duo held talks following the fall of Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province of DR Congo, to the M23 rebel group, a Congolese outfit.

“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 said.

At the core of the dispute is the role of various military forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Kagame firmly rejected Ramaphosa’s characterization of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) as a militia, stating, “The Rwanda Defence Force is an army, not a militia.” This was in response to Ramaphosa’s claim that the fighting in eastern DRC “is the result of an escalation by the rebel group M23 and the 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).”

Kagame clarified that SAMIDRC is not a peacekeeping force but rather a belligerent force with no legitimate role in the situation. He argued that SAMIDRC was authorized by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to engage in offensive combat operations, aiding the Congolese government in fighting its own people. He further accused SAMIDRC of collaborating with genocidal armed groups like the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which Rwanda views as a direct threat to its security. Kagame warned that these actions not only destabilize the region but also threaten to bring the war to Rwanda itself.

“Rwanda will never fail to protect its sovereignty and people,” Kagame emphasized, underscoring the nation’s commitment to security and peace.

Kagame also criticized the South African-led SADC mission in the DRC, labeling it not as a peacekeeping force but as a “belligerent force.” He accused SAMIDRC of aligning with the DRC government and collaborating with the FDLR, a group Rwanda considers a direct threat to its national security. According to Kagame, SAMIDRC’s intervention has not only failed to bring peace but has exacerbated the conflict by undermining the previous efforts of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF).

“SAMIDRC displaced a true peacekeeping force, the East African Community Regional Force, and this contributed to the failure of the negotiation processes,” Kagame said.

Rwandan army match during a national public ceremony.

In a revealing twist, Kagame disclosed details of private conversations with Ramaphosa, asserting that the South African president had privately acknowledged that the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC)—not the M23 rebels—were responsible for the deaths of South African troops. This contradicts Ramaphosa’s public claims that the M23 was to blame.

During intense fighting earlier this week, South Africa lost 13 soldiers who were fighting alongside Congolese government forces (FARDC), European mercenaries, and a coalition of other groups, including the FDLR—a militia formed by perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

“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,” Kagame stated.

This public spat signals a significant diplomatic standoff, with Kagame’s comments being interpreted by some as an informal declaration of war. The tone of his message raises concerns that the situation could escalate beyond harsh words, potentially pushing both nations toward military engagement if diplomatic efforts continue to falter.

The backdrop of this confrontation includes historical tensions, notably the 2014 assassination of Patrick Karegeya, a former Rwandan intelligence chief, on South African soil. This incident has long strained relations between the two countries.

In recent weeks, the M23 rebel group has captured the towns of Minova in South Kivu and Masisi in North Kivu, advancing toward the city of Goma. The rebels are demanding direct peace talks with the Congolese government, which has ruled out any possibility of negotiations, labeling the M23 a terrorist movement.

Regional initiatives to end the conflict politically have failed, with the Congolese government showing little political will and instead pursuing a military solution.

EAC calls for ceasefire

The East African Heads of State under the chairmanship of President William Ruto have called for a cessation of hostilities and protection of diplomatic missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The call followed a virtual meeting convened by President Ruto, over the conflict on Wednesday.

President William Ruto chairs a virtual Extra-Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State on DRC/PCS

The leaders urged the conflicting parties to facilitate access to humanitarian support for the affected people.

“The summit also expressed concern about the expanding crisis manifesting in attacks on diplomatic missions, embassies and staff based in Kinshasa. Accordingly, the summit urged the government of DRC to protect diplomatic missions, lives and property,” a communique from the summit reads in part.

“All parties to the conflict in Eastern DRC to cease hostilities and observe immediate and unconditional ceasefire and facilitate humanitarian access to the affected population.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi did not attend the summit.

The EAC heads of state further noted that President Ruto will engage the chairperson of the South African Development Community (SADC) for a joint summit to discuss the way forward.

This is a result of their forces being involved in efforts to stabilise the DRC.

The leaders further urged President Felix Tshisekedi to engage the M23 and all other armed groups, as well as all other critical stakeholders to arrive at a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

In recent weeks, the M23 captured the towns of Minova, in South Kivu, and Masisi, in North Kivu, ahead of taking the city of Goma on Sunday night.

The rebels demand direct peace talks with the Congolese government, which has ruled out any possibility of talks with the rebels, accusing them of being a terrorist movement.

Regional initiatives have failed to end the war politically, with the Congolese government declining political will and pursuing a military solution.

As the international community watches closely, the possibility of a broader conflict looms large, threatening the stability of the Central African region. The urgency to mediate and de-escalate this burgeoning crisis is palpable, with both leaders needing to navigate this diplomatic minefield carefully to avoid an all-out confrontation.

The implications of this exchange could reshape regional alliances, peacekeeping strategies, and the geopolitical landscape of Central Africa, highlighting the critical need for swift and effective diplomatic intervention.

January 30, 2025
South African President Signs Controversial Land Seizure Law

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law a bill allowing land seizures by the state without compensation – a move that has put him at odds with some members of his government.

Black people only own a small fraction of farmland nationwide more than 30 years after the end of the racist system of apartheid – the majority remains with the white minority.

This has led to frustration and anger over the slow pace of reform.

While Ramaphosa’s ANC party hailed the law as a “significant milestone” in the country’s transformation, some members of the coalition government say they may challenge it in court.

The law “outlines how expropriation can be done and on what basis” by the state, the government says.

It replaces the pre-democratic Expropriation Act of 1975, which placed an obligation on the state to pay owners it wanted to take land from, under the principle of “willing seller, willing buyer”.

The new law allows for expropriation without compensation only in circumstances where it is “just and equitable and in the public interest” to do so.

This includes if the property is not being used and there’s no intention to either develop or make money from it or when it poses a risk to people.

The president’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said that, under the law, the state “may not expropriate property arbitrarily or for a purpose other than… in the public interest”.

“Expropriation may not be exercised unless the expropriating authority has without success attempted to reach an agreement with the owner,” he added.

The signing of the law comes after a five-year consultative process as well as the findings of a presidential panel set up to look into the issue.

The pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA), the second largest party in the government of national unity (GNU), says it “strongly opposes” the law and was consulting with its lawyers.

It says that while it supports legislation addressing land restitution, it takes issue with the process followed by the country’s parliament to enact this law.

The Freedom Front Plus, a party which defends the rights of the white minority and is also in the GNU, vowed to challenge the constitutionality of the law and do “everything in its power” to have it amended if it is found to be unconstitutional.

One of the sticking points for the party was the law’s possible threat to private ownership.

Outside of the coalition government, the Economic Freedom Fighters, known for its radical views on nationalisation and land distribution, has called the move a “legislative cop-out” by the governing party.

The party also says the law will not help resolve the contentious issue of land restitution in South Africa.

January 26, 2025