On March 13, 2024, the former president of South Africa, Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki, addressed students and alumni at Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs at Unisa’s Muckleneuk campus in Pretoria, South Africa. In his speech, he focused on the on-going conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo or DRC). As he plans a visit to Rwanda in upcoming weeks as an invitee of Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame, he has made controversial statements supporting the narrative by the Rwandan government and military justifying the invasion of the DRC under the cover of M23 rebels, with questionable claims of defending some ethnic groups.
Thabo Mbeki started by addressing the divisions with the ruling party in South Africa, Africa National Congress (ANC), challenging the formation of a new break-away faction, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK), by his successor Jacob Zuma. He criticized Jacob Zuma for saying that he is still an ANC member, while campaigning for MK party.
Thabo Mbeki was elected in December 1997 to succeed Mandela as ANC president. Then, when ANC won the 1999 national elections, Thabo Mbeki was elected president of South Africa. In 2004, he was re-elected for a second term.
Following the corruptions charges against Jacob Zuma and the resulting deep political conflicts(see Thuli Madonsela, The South African Woman Who Took On Jacob Zuma and The Zupta), he resigned in 2009, but remained a powerful force behind the scene, in both ANC and the South African political and government institutions. Hence his comments and positions have been at the center stage in both South Africa and the African Great Lakes region, especially given the role South Africa, as a member of SADC, is playing in resolving the conflict in DRC. In February 2024, Rwandan troops, under the cover of M23 rebels, killed South African National Defence Force (SANDF) peace keeping soldiers in DRC working under the SAMIDRC (see DR Congo: US Government Strongly Condemns Attacks in the Eastern Province of Kivu by Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) Under the Cover of M23 Rebels).
After covering the political situation in South Africa, he moved to the military coups in West Africa and the current conflict and human tragedies in the DRC due to the on-going and repeated invasions by Rwandan Defense Forces under the cover of M23 rebels. His position and statements have raised concerns among the Congolese people and in the African Great Lakes region impacted by the wars.
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Controversial Statements on the Invasion of Eastern DR Congo by Rwandan Troops under the Cover of M23 Rebels.
On military coups in West-African countries, Thabo Mbeki said that West African coup leaders are young African patriots and soldiers fighting against french neo-colonialism.
Regarding the DRC, Thabo Mbeki focused his speech to the narrative of the Rwandan regime justifying the invasion to fight against the isolation of the Tutsi ethnic group and armed groups targeting Kinyarwanda-speaking congolese ethnic groups.
“The problem for us and problem for the Congolese is that certainly even during the days of Mobutu, they did not want to recognise the Rwandese who were Congolese as Congolese...
The Banyamulenge in eastern Congo, have for many decades felt that they don’t have the protection of the government in Kinshasa. So they need to protect themselves.”
He went on to condemn the Congolese population for not owning the responsibility of their humanitarian tragedies and instead blaming Rwandan government and armed groups, usually created, armed, funded, supported, and reinforced by the Rwandan government or serving as a cover of the Rwandan Defence Forces.
He elaborated by saying that : “The first challenge really to overcome is to get the Congolese to understand that this is a Congolese problem. It doesn’t originate from outside of the Congo.”.
He concluded his statement on the DRC by condemning the DRC government of being incompetent, focusing on other interests, and not caring about the Congolese people in Eastern DRC.
His comments raised concerns, but political analysts and observers said that his siding with the Rwandan government was not surprising. they pointed to the fact that Tambo Mbeki has always been close to the Rwandan dictatorship, even durring his presidential years. They also highlighted a statement in his speech, in which he confirmed an invitation from the Rwandan dictatorship to visit Rwanda in upcoming weeks.
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