South African soldiers attached to the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are among the 3 700 troops now deployed on that country’s tense eastern border.
More than 20 000 DRC troops have massed on the eastern border with Rwanda, say UN officials.
President Joseph Kabila says they will, among other things, be apprehending Hutu rebels — the Interahamwe — operating from the DRC since fleeing Rwanda for fear of being prosecuted for the genocide of up to a million people a decade ago.
Kabila has good reason to act against these rebels, who are accused of atrocities against Congolese Tutsis in the east of the country.
But neighbouring Rwanda is having none of it and President Paul Kagame says that Kabila is preparing to attack.
There is no love lost between Kabila and Kagame. Twice since taking power Kagame has sent large numbers of troops into the DRC to fend off the Interahamwe.
The removal of his 30 000 troops in 2002 was key to allowing the DRC parties to get on with negotiating their global and inclusive agreement.
But Kagame has continued supporting rebel groups within the DRC and made repeated threats to deal with the Interahamwe himself if Kabila does not do so.
Kagame is so incensed at Kabila’s charges that he has sent troops into the DRC that he has demanded a UN inquiry into the allegations.
This did not stop Banyamulenge leader Jules Mutebutsi and 300 of his men fleeing into Rwanda this week, where they are being held as ”military refugees”.
Mutebutsi and Laurent Nkunda led the attack that overran the eastern town of Bukavu on June 2.
The attack appears to have been a political ploy to support the demand for an inquiry into Banyamulenge atrocity claims.
Kabila has tried to defuse the situation by meeting these demands.
But after riots and an attempted coup in Kinshasa this month, he cannot show weakness.
If and when this crisis passes, Kabila has another mountain to climb. He must get the transitional process back on track and moving fast to have elections next year.
Expressions of concern about the present situation have come from South Africa and Namibia. Angola has gone a step further, sending foreign minister Joao Miranda to express solidarity with Kabila.
A sense of déjàvu pervades central Africa where six nations — including Rwanda, Namibia and Angola — were drawn into the 1998-2002 civil war in the DRC that killed three million people.
The UN Security Council this week warned those countries to stay out of matters this time around and urged Kagame and Kabila to seek mechanisms to settle their difficulties.
Britain’s Africa minister Chris Mullin and United States Deputy Africa Affairs Secretary Donald Yamamoto both visited the two countries this week.
The Southern African Development Community has offered its mediation services, which could well see South Africa drawn back into trying to broker a fresh peace deal.