This piece was written for the February 2025 edition of Postscripts, Shamillah Wilson’s monthly round-up of what’s been happening in feminist circles, her work, and some recommended reading suggestions.
While I write this in the second last week of February, news filters through from the Democratic Republic of Congo that the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel forces have claimed Bakavu, the second city in the mineral-rich Kivu Province in Eastern DRC after capturing Goma in January. As the attacks escalate, the lack of resistance from the DRC army heightens fears of destabilisation and conflict in the region. Already, South Africa, my home, has lost soldiers in the fighting and faced open hostility from the Rwandan government.
The area’s high levels of poverty can only be exacerbated by the conflict. As this article by Vijay Prashad shows, despite being one of the richest countries in the world with $24 million in mineral reserves, “1-in-6 Congolese people (live) in extreme poverty”. Women and children bear the brunt as hundreds of thousands of people flee their homes to escape the fighting. According to UN Women, “The renewed escalation of violence has resulted in a devastating humanitarian crisis, disproportionately affecting women and girls. As the clashes unfold in a country that has endured prolonged instability, women and girls are bearing the brunt of both direct and indirect consequences, with their rights, safety, and dignity increasingly under threat. Women and girls in the DRC currently face increased levels of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), with reports of rape and exploitation becoming tragically routine.”
In this interview with the BBC, Fred Bauma, the Executive Director of the Congolese research institute Ebuteli, said there has not been enough pressure for a ceasefire on the Rwandan and DRC governments. Meanwhile, there are talks of R23 establishing an administration in Bakavu as they’ve done in Goma. “I think that M23 and AFC (Alliance Fleuve Congo) are slowly reaching their objective of controlling a large part of North Kivu and South Kivu, and unfortunately, without a proper response from the Congolese government and the international community, this may (spread to) other provinces as well,” Bauma warned.
Prashaad reports that influential mining companies prevented the Congo from controlling their own resources while imperial powers “used their money and military power to subordinate the local ruling classes to foreign interests”. He says, “There is an urgent desire for the creation of a (a strong patriotic) project that would bring people together around the shared interests of the majority instead of falling prey to ethnic divisions (there are 400 ethnic groups in the DRC alone) and tribalism that tear communities apart and weaken their ability to fight for their destiny.”
Kambale Musavuli, a political analyst from the Center for Research on the Congo, told BreakThrough News that Rwanda plays the same role in Central Africa that the occupying force in Palestine plays in the Middle East. “Rwanda is the satellite agent of the United States in Africa. Rwanda’s soldiers receive a lot of military support from the United States, the United Kingdom and … the European Union to serve their interests across the world. That’s why you had Rwandan troops in Haiti, in Mali, in the Central African Republic, and lately in Mozambique fighting the so-called Isis. But when you ask the people of Mozambique … know that they are protecting oil interests, particularly TotalEnergy, which is a French oil company.”
“Rwanda is also the conduit of Congo’s minerals,” explained Musavuli. “It is cheaper through Rwanda. The European Union last year signed a Critical Minerals Agreement with Rwanda… (Lithium, cobalt and tin are needed for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Green Revolution and so on) knowing very well that Rwanda doesn’t have these minerals. When you see the UN reports, you see Congolese rebels exploiting the minerals.
Rwanda’s third object of interest in the DRC is the land. “Congo has a lot of arable land. Rwanda, for the past three decades, has shown an interest in some of the land, pretty much occupying it,” said Musavuli. “Our appeal is to progressive forces and Pan-Africanists: when you hear someone who wants to carve a country smaller and smaller, that person is not a Pan-Africanist … and has no interest in unity and stability on the African continent. The best idea is for Rwanda, Congo, Uganda … to become a bigger entity to achieve the Pan-African dream.” Instead, he reported, “Uganda allows M23 to cross its borders any time. A UN report (says) that the Ugandan Military has provided weapons to M23. They’ve also provided safe passage and logistical support to M23. These two countries have been US allies in the so-called war on terror that continue to get taxpayers’ money fueling and funding the Ugandan military and the Rwandan military.”
The popular protests against the conflict that rose in January at international embassies in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, have spread to Europe. Musavuli described them as part of a fledgling progressive Congolese movement that appeals to the international community. “They want to see more and more people clear about the conflict, and they want to be able to say that from Nigeria to South Africa, people have united for the Congo.”
