President Kiir flies to South Africa for bilateral talks

December 11, 2018 (JUBA) – President Salva Kiir headed to South Africa for talks on bilateral relations with his counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, said the South Sudanese presidency in Juba.

Kiir and his accompanying delegation left Juba on Tuesday afternoon, further said a short statement without elaborating on the names of his delegation, the time he will spend there or the issues to be discussed during the visit.

The presidency only said that the visit takes place at the invitation of President Ramaphosa.

The visit comes after a visit by South African Deputy President David Mabuza who is also the Special Envoy to South Sudan, to Kenya and Uganda on 7 December for talks with the leaders of the two east African nations on South Sudan peace process.

Pretoria said the visits came in the context of consolidating political discussions with member states of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on efforts towards finding lasting peace and stability for the people of South Sudan.

Last October, Mabuza was in Juba for talks with President Kiir and reiterated South Africa’s continued and unwavering support to the implementation of the peace agreement. He also met with some opposition leaders in Juba before to fly to Khartoum.

In the Sudanese capital, he discussed the peace process with President Omer al-Bashir and met with the South Sudanese opposition leaders.

Also, South Africa is heading the African Union High-Level Ad hoc Committee for South Sudan (C5) comprising of South Africa, Algeria, Chad, Nigeria and Rwanda.

The C5 signed the revitalized peace agreement, as guarantors on 12 September 2018, to demonstrate Africa’s commitment to supporting the people of South Sudan in their search for sustainable peace.

South Africa recently vowed to invest one billion dollars to develop the oil industry in South Sudan and explore new oil blocks.

(ST)