South African minister says “Rwanda deserves our attention”

Opening the first session of the joint commission for cooperation between Rwanda and South Africa, South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said her country had an obligation to support reconstruction efforts in Rwanda, the South African news agency SAPA reported on Friday. “Our government has decided that we cannot look on again, as Rwanda is trying to deal with the aftermath of that tragedy,” Dlamini-Zuma was quoted as saying, referring to the 1994 genocide of at least 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. “We have to pay very special attention and work very closely with the Rwandans as they try to reconstruct their country and to reconcile the nation.” The joint commission would be “about putting substance to what we are talking about in terms of the African recovery. Rwanda is one country that deserves our attention,” Dlamini-Zuma stated.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Andre Bumaya expressed appreciation for South Africa’s support, saying his country had for years been subjected to bad and discriminatory governments. “As a result, long periods of corrupt and repressive regimes led to massive human rights violations, which culminated in the 1994 genocide,” Bumaya was quoted as saying. The present government inherited a traumatised and impoverished society. “In order to meet these challenges the government of Rwanda has embarked on an ambitious programme of national reconstruction and reconciliation,” said Bumaya. Cooperation between South Africa and Rwanda would help achieve this aim, and the joint commission was itself an expression of the healthy ties between the two countries. “I am confident that the outcome of deliberations during this session will meet our expectations,” Bumaya stated.