The death of South African soldiers on a Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has sparked fierce debate about the deployment of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers there.

Expert defends South Africa's presence in the DRC, emphasising its role in regional peacekeeping efforts and the protection of national interests.

They may be on opposite sides of the Congolese battlefield only by proxy, but Pretoria and Kigali are now trading undiplomatic warnings. The war in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is also stirring up old disputes between the two countries.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned Rwandan President Paul Kagame that failing to halt an assault by Rwanda-backed rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo will carry consequences.

Kagame's comments clearly suggested that he wants South Africa to back off from DR Congo, where its military involvement dates back to the late 1990s. It first joined the UN's peacekeeping mission, Monusco, following the end of the racist system of apartheid in 1994.

The Rwandan president accused president Cyril Ramaphosa and officials of distorting talks between the two, calling it a mix of attacks, lies, and misrepresentation

Rwanda is illegally occupying the Democratic Republic of Congo and attempting to orchestrate regime change, the country's foreign minister has told the BBC. Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said the world had allowed Rwandan President Paul Kagame decades of impunity and failure to hold him accountable for violating international law.

M23 rebels on patrol in Goma, eastern Congo, which has reserves of minerals that are needed by the world’s electronics giants © AFP/ Rwanda’s stealth occupation of eastern Congo on x (opens in a new w