South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa shaking hands with his South Sudan’s counterpart, President Salva Kiir Mayardit in Juba. | Photo: Office of President |.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in South Sudan’s capital, Juba on a three-day visit for talks with his South Sudanese counterpart on bolstering bilateral relations between Juba and Pretoria.
President Ramaphosa was received at Juba International Airport by his South Sudanese counterpart, President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who doubles as the chairperson of the East African Community, senior government officials, and South Africa’s embassy diplomats in Juba.
Speaking to Golden Times on Tuesday, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ramadan Abdalla Goch said South Africa is one of South Sudan’s peace guarantors working closely to monitor the progress of the revitalized peace agreement signed in 2018 between the government and several opposition groups that partially silenced the guns in many parts of the country.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet President Kiir. He will also meet the first vice president, and other signatories to the peace agreement. He will also meet [the leaders of] three commissions [namely], the National Elections Commission, Political Parties’ Council and National Constitution Review Commission,” Goch said.
Deputy Minister Ramadan Goch said the South African leader will also assess the progress of the peace implementation and the readiness for general elections slated for December this year.
He confirmed that all the institutions tasked to prepare the nation for the 2024 polls were ready to kick-start the pre-election activities.
South Africa and South Sudan enjoy friendly relations dating from the era of the liberation struggles of South Sudan’s African National Congress that inspired the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement [SPLA/M] to struggle for independence.
In October 2017, South Africa extracted Machar from DR Congo after he fell out with President Kiir in 2016 and placed him under house arrest.
Machar’s house arrest in South Africa drew criticism widely, and a year later, South Africa decided to lift Machar’s house arrest status.
Machar returned to Juba in October 2018 following a peace deal that was signed in September 2018.
A month later, South Africa expressed interest in investing 1 billion US dollars in South Sudan’s oil sector, including in the area of constructing an oil refinery, a sector dominated by the Chinese and Indian oil companies.
This latest visit of South Africa’s president comes at a critical time as the parties that constitute the government of national unity locked horns on the status of the forthcoming general elections with the opposition groups citing shrinking civic and political space.
The main opposition group—Sudan People’s Liberation Movement In-Opposition [SPLM-IO] said its leader, Riek Machar Teny has been confined within the national capital, Juba since he arrived back from South Africa in March 2018.
Pal Mai Deng, the SPLM-IO senior official confirmed to the media that Machar has been confined in Juba, calling on the government to lift the restrictions to allow his leader to visit the party’s stronghold to mobilize supporters ahead of the anticipated December 2024 general elections.
Golden Times | South Sudan
