Rwanda, Belgium expel each other’s diplomats; EU announces sanctions ahead of DRC peace talks

The European Union sanctioned nine people and a gold refinery on Monday in connection with a Rwanda-backed rebellion in eastern DRC, a day before peace talks scheduled in Angola between M23 rebels and the Congolese government.

South Africa’s legislators will scrutinise the 2025 Budget in the coming weeks, with amendments not ruled out as political parties weigh up a contentious plan to raise value-added tax (VAT).

Rwanda and Belgium expel each other’s diplomats over DRC conflict

Belgium and Rwanda announced the expulsion of each other’s diplomats, as relations deteriorated over allegations about their respective roles in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Kigali said it was severing diplomatic relations and giving Belgian diplomats 48 hours to leave the East African country, accusing Brussels of “using lies and manipulation to secure an unjustified hostile opinion of Rwanda”.

Belgium’s foreign affairs minister, Maxime Prevot, said the move was “disproportionate and shows that when we disagree with Rwanda they prefer not to engage in dialogue”.

Brussels would reciprocate by declaring Rwandan diplomats persona non grata, he added.

African leaders have been trying to establish a lasting ceasefire in DRC, where the Rwandan government is accused of supporting an offensive by M23 rebels in eastern Congo.

EU sanctions Rwandan officials ahead of DRC peace talks

The European Union sanctioned nine people and a gold refinery on Monday in connection with a Rwanda-backed rebellion in eastern DRC, a day before peace talks scheduled in Angola between M23 rebels and the Congolese government.

The sanctions targeted M23 political leader Bertrand Bisimwa and Rwandan army commanders. They were also applied to the chief executive of Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board and Gasabo Gold Refinery in Kigali, which the EU accused of illicitly exporting natural resources from DRC.

Amid a flurry of diplomatic activity, a rebel alliance that includes M23 confirmed it would send a five-member delegation to Tuesday’s talks in Luanda, which could mark M23’s first direct negotiations with the Congolese government.

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi’s office said on Sunday that Kinshasa would send representatives to Luanda, reversing the government’s long-standing vow not to negotiate with the group, which it has dismissed as a mere front for the Rwandan government.

Pressure has been growing on Tshisekedi to negotiate with M23 after a series of battlefield setbacks since January. The rebels have seized eastern DRC’s two biggest cities and a host of smaller localities.

The fighting has killed at least 7,000 people this year, according to the Congolese government, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.

The conflict is rooted in the spillover into DRC of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and the struggle for control of DRC’s vast mineral resources, many of which are used in batteries used for electric vehicles and other electronic products.

The United Nations and international powers accuse Rwanda of providing arms and sending soldiers to fight with the ethnic Tutsi-led M23. Rwanda says its forces are acting in self-defence against DRC’s army and militias hostile to Kigali.

Tshisekedi had met US legislator Ronny Jackson to discuss fighting in the east of the country and opportunities for US investment, said DRC’s presidency.

The meeting took place one week after Washington said it was open to exploring critical minerals partnerships with DRC.

A presidency statement described Jackson as a “special envoy” for US President Donald Trump.

Congo has vast reserves of cobalt, lithium and uranium among other minerals.

Explainer: What’s next for South Africa’s Budget and planned VAT hike?

South Africa’s legislators will scrutinise the 2025 Budget in the coming weeks, with amendments not ruled out as political parties weigh up a contentious plan to raise value-added tax (VAT).

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tabled a revised Budget on 12 March that was rejected by most big parliamentary parties despite a reduction in the size of the proposed VAT hike from two percentage points to one point, spread over two years.

There is now no clear path for the Budget to be passed before the current fiscal year ends on 31 March, the first time that has happened in the post-apartheid era.

Godongwana’s African National Congress (ANC) needs the support of at least one other big party for the Budget to pass.

The Budget will be considered by legislators in three stages.

In the first stage, legislators vote on the fiscal framework and revenue proposals that lay out economic policy and revenue projections and set the overall limits for government spending.

Next, they consider the division of revenue bill, which outlines how funds will be shared between the three spheres of government — national, provincial and local government.

Last to be voted on is the Appropriation Bill, which allocates money to specific departments and programmes.

Each Bill must be passed before moving to the next stage.

According to Parliament, legislators have until 3 April, which is 16 working days after the Budget was tabled, to approve the fiscal framework and related revenue proposals, but there is flexibility if delays occur.

Legislators have the power to amend the Budget, within limits. According to parliamentary laws, any changes cannot exceed the revenue or spending estimates set out in the budget.

If the budget is not passed by 1 April, the start of the new fiscal year, the law allows the government to continue spending up to 45% of the previous year’s Budget until Parliament approves the new Budget.

The government cannot implement new budgetary allocations without parliamentary approval.

The National Treasury said it could implement the VAT hike on 1 May, even if the Budget had not been passed in Parliament.

“The alteration will be effective from a date determined by the minister in that announcement, and continues to apply for a period of 12 months from that date,” said the National Treasury.

Should parliamentarians scrap the VAT increase after it has been implemented, subsequent adjustments to tax laws would need to be made within 12 months and the existing tax would not require repayment, said a parliamentary spokesperson.

The Budget has been the biggest test for the fractious coalition formed last year when the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in the democratic era.

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said on Thursday that the party was prepared to talk to all political parties to find a way to pass the Budget.  

Bodies pulled out of well in areas recaptured from Sudan fighters

In a part of Sudan recaptured by the army just weeks ago after nearly two years under the control of paramilitary fighters, Red Crescent volunteers in hazmat suits and masks pulled bodies out of a well and put them in black bags as residents looked on.

Most of the 15 victims had been shot in the head, but some had injuries suggesting they were thrown in the well alive, said Hisham Zain al-Abdin, director of forensic medicine for Khartoum state.

Other bodies have been found scattered on roadsides or hidden in basements of the district, known as Sharg Elnil. Some of the victims were tied up, said Zain al-Abdin.

“A lot of things happened here, and horrific scenes,” he said.

Nearly two years into Sudan’s civil war, government forces have been advancing into territory long held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which broke with the military authorities in April 2023.

The authorities say they are finding widespread evidence of killings in areas formerly under RSF control.

The RSF did not respond to a request for comment. In the past, it has denied accusations of widespread abuses in areas it has controlled and said individual perpetrators would be brought to account. It has also accused the army of carrying out its own abuses, which the army also denies.

Hussein al-Faki, one of the residents who reported the bodies in the well to the authorities, said locals had tried to bury the victims, but the armed men controlling the area during RSF occupation “warned us not to go near them”.

“If you got closer, they would shoot you. They scared us, so we ran away and left them,” he said. DM