Kiir, South Africa’s Ramaphosa discuss S. Sudan peace implementation: Pretoria
January 31, 2020 (JUBA) – South African presidency said President Salva Kiir is in Pretoria for talks on the implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement.
On Thursday the South Sudanese presidency said that Kiir headed to South Africa in a three-day work visit without further details.
For its part, the presidency in Pretoria issued a statement saying the visiting South Sudanese leader will discuss with President Cyril Ramaphosa the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.
“The working visit will also afford the two leaders an opportunity to discuss the progress made thus far in relation to the implementation of the Revitalised-Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS),” further said the statement.
Kiir and Ramaphosa met on Friday but the outcome of the meeting has not been announced yet.
The South African Deputy President David Mabuza recently held a series of meetings with President Kiir and other signatories of the revitalized peace pact to discuss the issue of the number of states and boundaries.
Following what, he proposed to form an arbitration body on the states’ issue including the IGAD and South Africa and the Troika countries. The mechanism has 90 days, after the formation of the transitional government to deliver its arbitrage.
The proposal was accepted by President Kiir but the other parties rejected it.
The statement said that “South Africa remains confident that the Parties will find common ground to form the Revitalised Government of National Unity”.
The South African presidency further said the two leaders will discuss areas of joint cooperation including agriculture/agri-business; water; education; infrastructure development; transport; mining; energy; electricity; oil and gas.
(ST)