South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Paul Kagame of
Rwanda in Kigali on March 20, 2018. South Africa and Rwanda are working
to resume ties. PHOTO | RWANDA PRESIDENCY 
South Africa has ordered an inquest into the murder in 2014 of
Col Patrick Karegeya, a former head of Rwanda’s External Intelligence, a
move that could delay the restoration of full diplomatic ties between
the two countries.
Relations between the two soured
after Col Karegeya’s murder and a second attempt on the life of former
army Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa in March 2014, when South
Africa openly rebuked Rwanda and expelled three Rwandan diplomats.
Rwanda retaliated by sending home six South African diplomats.
In
2016, both countries started a process to restore ties, which has seen
the appointments of diplomats from both countries. However, issuance of
visas to Rwandans seeking to travel to South Africa is yet to resume,
even after President Cyril Ramaphosa declared in March this year that
the issue would be resolved immediately.
More than seven months later, The EastAfrican
has learned that South Africa’s prosecution and elite police force
known as The Hawks have requested the ministry of Home Affairs to hold
off the resumption of visa issuance until the inquest is completed.
Col
Karegeya, who was 53 at the time, was killed on January 1, 2014 in a
room at the plush Michelangelo Towers hotel in Johannesburg. He had fled
to South Africa in 2007 and was seeking asylum. He was a member of the
exiled opposition group Rwanda National Congress (RNC).
Fingers
pointed to Kigali after some of the individuals suspected of
participating in the plot to kill Karegeya were reportedly found to have
links to the Rwandan government but Rwanda denied the accusations. His
family and political allies maintain Kigali is responsible for his
murder.
Last Thursday, Randburg magistrate Jeremiah Matopa announced
that the inquest into Col Karegeya’s death would begin on January 16,
next year.
According to South African media, Chief
Prosecutor Yusuf Baba told the court that he had lined up more than 30
witnesses to take part in the inquest.
“I intend to
call every witness in this matter. This is a very sensitive case dealing
with international relations,” the prosecutor said.
The
inquest is expected to last 15 days but the prosecutor warned that it
could last longer in an effort to establish who killed Col Karegeya, who
at the time was a top critic of President Paul Kagame. The witnesses
will include the staff of the hotel in which he was killed with a
curtain cord.
Dissidents
In
Kigali, the South African High Commissioner to Rwanda, George Nkosinati
Twala, met the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Richard Sezibera.
According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, “they discussed bilateral relations and co-operation in various fields.”
Mr Twala, who is also Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Rwanda, in a recent interview with The EastAfrican
said that his country plans to resume issuing visas to Rwandans but
admitted that the issues of Rwandan dissidents in South Africa remains
an issue.
The South African envoy said the visa issue was a ‘technical matter’ that is yet to be resolved.
Rwanda
maintains that the existence of wanted Rwandan dissidents in South
Africa, including Lt. Gen Nyamwasa, threatens relations between the two
countries because they are allegedly involved in activities to
destabilise Rwanda.
“Clearly it is a problem,” Mr Twala
said, adding that the issue “remains a problem because there are
allegations that they were involved in activities that are incompatible
with their refugee status.”
He said that South Africa
wrote to the said individuals warning them that they have to be careful
about their utterances because while South Africa respects refugee
conventions, it cannot be seen as a country offering sanctuary to armed
struggle movements or any other activities meant to destabilise or
overturn legitimate governments elsewhere.
Mr Twala
also said that at some point, South African had written to the Rwandan
exiles asking them to go to a third country but the process is
complicated and requires a lot of negotiations.
According
to reports, RNC members in South Africa, including Lt Gen Nyamwasa and
David Batenga, a nephew to Col Karegeya, have been consistently pressing
South African authorities to carry out an inquest into Karegeya’s
murder.
Mr Kayumba has escaped two attempts on his
life, including one in March 2014, which triggered the diplomatic row.
He also blames Kigali.
Mr Twala insists that he doesn’t
think the issue of dissidents will stand in the way of diplomatic
rapprochement between the two countries, initiated by President
Ramaphosa and President Paul Kagame.
“We will be able to discuss and resolve these issues,” Mr Twala told The EastAfrican.
Many
ordinary Rwandans still cannot travel to South Africa unless they have
service passports despite the South African mission in Kigali saying it
facilitates those with urgent need to travel to the southern African
country.
The envoy said that what is clear is that the current administration in South Africa has expressed desire to fully restore ties.
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