Rwandan genocide suspect Fulgence Kayishema was a loved and trusted confidant of the Afrikaans family he lived with in Paarl, Western Cape. They were shocked to the core on discovering they had opened their home to a fugitive.
According to sources with knowledge of the more than six month-long operation that led to his detention in Paarl on May 25, the family were devastated when investigators from the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) explained why they were waiting at their front door with a South African Police Service team.
Kayishema had crept into the family’s hearts when he allegedly “rescued” their matriarch during a robbery some time ago. A source said the homeowner broke down in tears when investigators explained that Fulgence was wanted on charges related to the Rwandan genocide.
“The man didn’t even know what the Rwandan genocide was. He was heartbroken because this man had saved his wife from a robbery some time ago and the family had accepted him into their lives since then.”
Another source said Kayishema had started living with the family in Wellington, Western Cape, and when they moved to Paarl he went with them.
The homeowner trusted Kayishema, whom they knew as Donatien, so fully that he helped him to get a job as a security guard at the grape farm where he worked.
“He was a good worker. He was trusted with the keys to the warehouse,” said the source.
The Sunday Times visited the farm in Paarl where Kayishema worked and was arrested by a heavily armed police tactical unit.
On Friday, a team of excited farm workers were about to board a bus for a weekend away, apparently unperturbed by the arrest of their colleague a week ago.
The man didn’t even know what the Rwandan genocide was. He was heartbroken ... the family accepted him into their lives
— Source close to the family
“Yes, we know Donatien, he was arrested here. Here comes our bus! Yaaaaay!” exclaimed the workers, neatly sidestepping any further questions about him.
The farm’s owner did not want to be named or interviewed.
“I’m not willing to discuss anything with you. And you do not have permission to speak with any of my personnel,” said the 73-year-old.
The Sunday Times contacted the family Kayishema lived with to confirm the information that he had helped the mother during a robbery and that they trusted him with their lives.
The son of the couple with whom Kayishema lived did not elaborate on any details the Sunday Times put to him, only saying they were “not 100% correct”.
The IRMCT and the SAPS team managed to trace Kayishema to Paarl after months of investigation.
The UN team was following information that members and relatives of Kayishema’s family were in South Africa but for years protected him with their silence by saying that he had not been seen in the country since the early 2000s.
A last-minute discovery and the co-operation of key witnesses who knew where Kayishema stayed and worked led investigators to his door.
He appeared for the second time in the Cape Town magistrate's court on Friday. The state said it was bringing 17 more charges against him.
Kayishema's lawyer Juan Smuts told the Sunday Times the “million dollar question” was where his client was going to be extradited to.
“The state said they were going to send me the charge sheet on Monday. They claim there are 17 charges against him and I’m waiting for the extradition warrant,” he said.
“I want to see to which state ... is it The Hague, the International Criminal Court, is it to Tanzania [where the African Court on Human and People's Rights is based] or is it to Rwanda?
“The problem is there is a special relationship between Tanzania and Rwanda, to put it softly,” said Smuts.
“If he gets extradited to Tanzania before the close of business he will be moved to Rwanda, and we are afraid of that,” he said.
Smuts said there was a “nexus” between the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kayishema.
He said that South Africa was a signatory to the ICC and bound by the Rome Statute to arrest a wanted suspect sought by the court. Though his client was wanted by the UN, the same principle applied.
“There is a nexus here. It falls under the narrative of a genocide. There is a treaty which we signed, and we invited Putin to come here. That is contradictory to the treaty.
“There’s an international arrest warrant out for Putin. He must be arrested if he comes to South Africa. The question is, why won’t it happen? The reason for that is financial and political. And Fulgence is a soft target,” he said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.