Rwandan President Paul Kagame has escalated tensions with South Africa, accusing President Cyril Ramaphosa and government officials of spreading distortions and lies following their telephonic conversation about the ongoing conflict in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), that has resulted in the deaths of 13 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members.

In a statement posted on social media on Wednesday night, Kagame alleged that media narratives from South African officials, including Ramaphosa himself, were riddled with “distortion, deliberate attacks, and even lies.”

Kagame refuted Ramaphosa’s statement referring to the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) as a “militia.”

According to Kagame, the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), which includes SANDF troops, is not a peacekeeping force and has no place in the Goma situation.

“It was authorized by SADC as a belligerent force engaging in offensive combat operations to help the DRC Government fight against its own people, working alongside genocidal armed groups like FDLR which target Rwanda, while also threatening to take the war to Rwanda itself.

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

Kagame also dismissed claims in South African media that Ramaphosa had warned him that any attack on South African troops would be regarded as an act of war.

“President Ramaphosa has never given a “warning” of any kind, unless it was delivered in his local language which I do not understand. He did ask for support to ensure the South African force has adequate electricity, food and water, which we shall help communicate. President Ramaphosa confirmed to me that M23 did not kill the soldiers from South Africa, FARDC did,” he said.

In a parting shot, Kagame said 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 warned.

The statement that triggered Kagame’s heated response came after Ramaphosa defended South Africa’s military involvement in eastern DRC, clarifying that it was not a declaration of war against any nation.

“The members of the South African National Defence Force that are in the DRC are part of both SADC and United Nations efforts to bring peace and protect thousands of lives that are constantly threatened by the conflict in the DRC,” Ramaphosa stated.