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Rwanda-South Africa Relations, Hot Potato For Dr. Pandor

Source: Mail & Guardian, 30/05/2019


Diplomacy between the two countries collapsed when Dr Grace Naledi
Mandisa Pandor was South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, a pivotal
docket in the ever collapsing relations between the two nations.
She is now back as new Foreign Affairs Minister at a time when
relations are once again thorny, moreover under the same unresolved
issues that would have been fixed long ago by her while under Home
Affairs.
It is always Rwanda’s hope that for every change of guard at the
Foreign Affairs Ministry in Pretoria, translates into positive change
in the relations between the two countries.
South Africa being the continent’s economic power house, remains an
important partner Rwanda would want to engage with, but the waters are
not stable enough for this to happen.
The latest appointment of Dr. Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor as South
Africa’s new Foreign Affairs Minister, under the new resized
government of President Cyril Ramaphosa, offers yet another complex
puzzle for Rwanda.
Between 2012-2014 Dr. Pandor was Home Affairs Minister when the
relations between Rwanda and South Africa were completely freezing
following assassination attempts on Kayumba Nyamwasa, a Rwandan dissident.
As usual, some Rwandan politicians expressed, in a sarcastic manner,
their feelings about the character of Dr. Pandor.
“Congratulations Minister Naledi Pandor! Let’s make our relations
great again!” said Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe shortly after President
Cyril Ramaphosa announced his new foreign affairs Minister.
Minister Nduhungirehe’s comment is cordial in text and diplomatic, but
the reservations are deeply engraved in it.
Dr. Pandor’s position on matters with Rwanda are known, and there is
no evidence of change.
Her selection for this docket therefore may not change much in the
thorny and bumpy relations between her country and Rwanda.
For example, she has reservations about Rwanda invoking the UN
Refugees cessation clause- this has since been another thorn in the
relations.
During her tenure as Home Affairs Minister, Pandor said that her
government would first conduct its own investigation into existing
conditions in Rwanda and consult extensively with the local Rwandan
community before making a decision on invoking the cessation clause.
Her office considered listening to Rwandan refugees’ concerns and
fears of being returned to Rwanda, and sharing with refugees the
government of South Africa’s position around the cessation clause,
which it said clearly required to first articulate the reasons for the
clause being invoked.
Towards the end of her tenure as Home Affairs Minister in 2014, it is
when much of the relations between the two countries collapsed based
on recommendations from her ministry, leading to the expulsion of
several Rwandan diplomats by Pretoria.
She has been given a principle post at a time South Africa has revived
trial inquest into the 2013 murder of Colonel Patrick Karegeya.
The inquest five years since it had stalled, is considered a plot to
disrupt efforts to repair relations between the two countries.
Rwanda is also concerned by the inability of Rwandans to get South
African visas in Kigali, Rwanda.
It is yet to be determined under the new management of Dr. Pandor
whether this Visa issue will be addressed in a different manner.
“We don’t deny South Africans visas to travel to our country, but the
reverse to South Africa is not the same,” President Paul Kagame said
in previous engagements with journalists.
President Ramaphosa in March 2018 said that the problem of Rwandans
being denied visas to South Africa would soon become history after
holding talks with President Kagame. This is yet to be realized.
Despite reappointing diplomats, South Africa is yet to appoint a visa
official to Kigali, meaning that Rwandans still cannot get visas to
South Africa.
It is still early to assess how Dr. Pandor will navigate the current
concerns by Rwanda about South Africa hosting the Rwanda National
Congress (RNC) led by Kayumba Nyamwasa â€` a terrorist group that has an
objective of overthrowing government in Kigali.
This RNC and FDLR issue has been at the centre of failing relations
between Rwanda and Uganda â€` basically according to Rwanda, the current
problems are born in South Africa, exported to next door Uganda from
where they would extend their tentacles into Rwanda to destabilize
peace and security.
Dr. Pandor has a big assignment in leading the reconstruction of ties
between the two countries building on several demands that Rwanda has
in the last few months communicated to her government.
For example last year, during the the Extraordinary Summit of the
African Union in Kigali, President Kagame and his South African
counterpart President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered Foreign Affairs
Ministers to work on normalization of relations between the two countries.
Rwanda is concerned about South Africa accepting distortions
propagated by Rwandan detractors based in South Africa, and media
platforms associated with them.
Dr Pandor has previosuly served in the south African Government as
Minister of Education, Home Affairs and Now Foreign Affairs. She is a
senior member of the ruling ANC party
About Dr Pandor
Born in 1953 Dr Pandor is a strong mobiliser for the Ruling African
National Congress Party and mostly honoured as comrade like most
senior cadres of the party. She has served as cabinet minister since
2009 in different portfolios.
This new minister is a well-educated politician that acquired a Doctor
of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Education at the University of Pretoria
(Tuks).
She holds a Master’s degree in Education policy and practice in
multi-racial societies, and another in Linguistics from the applied
linguistics perspective.
“I am a teacher by early training and am fascinated by education,”
Pandor says, adding she chose education “because it is the discipline
I have always had an interest in understanding further.”
Pandor is married to Sharif Joseph Pandor and has four children.
She converted to Islam after she met her husband while studying in
Botswana, her in-laws gave her the Islamic name of Nadia. On her
religious conversion Pandor said: “My parents said God is God”.


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