SOUTH AFRICA BREAKDOWN THE RELATIONSHIP WITH RWANDA

SOUTH Africa on Sunday maintained its official silence on the reasons for the sudden breakdown in relations with Rwanda and whether it intended to up the ante in the tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats.

The Department of International Relations and Co-operation had made no official statement by last night, more than 48 hours after one of the most serious diplomatic rows with another African country since 1994.
The argument, reportedly over the hounding of prominent Rwandan political exiles in South Africa, may have extended to neighbour Burundi, which said at the weekend that one of its diplomats in Pretoria had also been expelled.
Rwanda-South Africa relations hit bottom when former Rwandan intelligence chief Patrick Karegeya was found murdered in a Sandton hotel on New Year’s Day. President Paul Kagame’s response was that his government was not responsible but "no one will betray Rwanda and get away with it".
As investigations continue, South Africa’s security services tracked down the people believed to have raided the Johannesburg home of exiled former Rwandan army head Kayumba Nyamwasa last week, Reuters reported.
Three Rwandan embassy officials were ordered to leave South Africa but Kigali raised the stakes on Friday, expelling six of South Africa’s diplomats.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said on Twitter that her government was retaliating and protesting "at South Africa’s harbouring of dissidents responsible for terrorist attacks in Rwanda".
Diplomats in Pretoria were on Sunday waiting to see how President Jacob Zuma would react.
"A lot is at stake for South Africa, which can’t allow foreign countries to do what they want on its territory," said a senior European envoy.
Analyst Koffi Kouakou said that after Mr Karegeya’s unsolved murder, other attacks on Rwandan exiles in recent years and the raid on Mr Nyamwasa’s residence, the South African government was obliged to take firm action.
Relations between the two countries have been tense for years over the exiles and also the Democratic Republic of Congo, where South Africa is seeking to expand investment. Rwanda has accused its western neighbour of sheltering armed groups of Hutus responsible for the 1994 genocide in which about 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus died.
Burundi said on Saturday that South Africa had expelled Jean-Claude Sindayigaya, the first secretary at its embassy in Pretoria. "We don’t yet know the motive behind this decision," Foreign Minister Laurent Kavakure told AFP. "We are waiting to know more before reacting."