President Jacob Zuma. (File, AFP)
Cape Town – South Africa and Rwanda are reportedly working on mending their relations amid the ongoing diplomatic spat between the two countries.
Three Rwandan diplomats and a diplomat from Burundi were ordered out by Pretoria early this month after SA security services linked them to a raid by gunmen against the Johannesburg home of an exiled Rwandan general and critic of President Paul Kagame.
In retaliation, the Rwandan government expelled six South African diplomats, accusing Pretoria of sheltering individuals whom it linked to “terrorist acts” in Rwanda.
According to an SABC report, President Jacob Zuma, who met his Rwandan counterpart at the recently concluded Great Lakes Region Security Summit in Angola, said the two presidents had agreed to hold direct talks to ease the simmering tensions.
The two leaders met face to face for the first time since the expulsion of senior diplomats by both sides, the report said.
Zuma said they had agreed to “share some detailed information and deal with the issues”.