AFC/M23 leader Corneille Nangaa recently told reporters he would send a large delegation to the discussions aimed at finding solutions to the DRC's ongoing crisis.
As promised, a team led by AFC/M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka has already arrived in South Africa. Before joining the talks, the group also attended an international peace and security conference hosted by the Mbeki Foundation.
Kabila, who was among those invited, dispatched senior allies including his former chief of staff Néhémie Mwilanya, former Kinshasa governor Andre Kimbuta, former senator Francine Muyumba, and former deputy budget minister Félix Momat Kitenge.
Mbeki's foundation had extended invitations to a broad range of participants, including members of President Félix Tshisekedi's government and opposition figures.
However, Tshisekedi declined the Mbeki Foundation's invitation, insisting that Congolese do not need a mediator to resolve their own political challenges. He argued that peace talks organised abroad are merely a distraction. Government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya reinforced that stance, saying no official from Kinshasa would attend, claiming that Mbeki did not fully understand the country's problems.
Speaking to South African media on September 4, Kanyuka criticised Tshisekedi's position, saying it undermined other peace efforts supported by the United States and Qatar.
'I know the map very well. Washington is not in the DRC, Doha is not in the DRCâ€"they are foreign powers,' he said. 'Why does he say he doesn't want to be distracted by external talks? By closing the door to all dialogue, he is choosing war. That has been his position from the start.'
Thabo Mbeki, who served as South Africa's president from 1999 to 2008, has long taken an interest in the DRC and is considered one of the African leaders most familiar with its conflicts.
IGIHE
