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.

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.