South Africa president says to mend relations with Rwanda

KIGALI, March 20 (Xinhua) -- South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa said Tuesday that his country and Rwanda are going to resolve existing challenges between the two countries.

"The challenges that were there are going to be resolved," said Ramaphosa, who was referring to the issue that the South African embassy in Rwanda does not issue visas to Rwandans.

Foreign ministers of the two countries are going to work on this immediately, said the president at a panel discussion of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Business Forum, a side event of the African Union (AU) extraordinary summit on the AfCFTA.

"President Kagame and I are going to sign it off. We thus consider this matter of visas as solved," he said.

Rwanda and South Africa have had luke-warm relations after South Africa expelled in 2014 three Rwandan diplomats it linked to a raid on an exiled Rwandan general's Johannesburg home, and Rwanda retaliated by expelling six South African envoys. Enditem