South African special envoy concludes unfruitful mediation mission to South Sudan

Deputy President David Mabuza, in his capacity as Special Envoy to South Sudan, has concluded his two-day peace mission to South Sudan after failing to mediate an agreement between the concerned parties, his office said on Thursday.

Mabuza adjourned a consultative meeting of the parties concerned on the determination of the number of states and their boundaries, an issue that has stalked the peace process in South Sudan, said Matshepo Seedat, spokesperson for Mabuza.

The meeting, which began in December 2019, was adjourned after the parties could not reach an agreement on the number of states and boundaries, which is one of the outstanding issues towards the formation of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity, (RTGNU), according to Seedat.

At the December 2019 meeting, signatories to the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), signed in 2018, could not reach common position on the number of states and their boundaries.

This prompted Mabuza and other facilitators to propose an arbitrated mechanism to break the impasse, thereby paving the way for the formation of the RTGNU on or before the expiry of the current 100-day pre-transitional extended period.

At the latest meeting, the parties ultimately could not reach a consensus on the proposed arbitrated mechanism, Seedat said.

“Whereas the parties have failed to find common ground, we are encouraged that they remain committed to peace and in forming the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity by the end of the extended period, as the people of South Sudan want peace and prosperity,” Seedat quoted Mabuza as saying.

Mabuza and other special envoys will therefore table the final report of the meeting to the IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) Council of Ministers and Summit, Seedat said.

Shortly after its independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan plunged into civil war. At least 300,000 people are estimated to have died since late 2013, some 1.8 million people are displaced internally and 2.5 million others have fled to neighboring countries. Enditem