Deputy President David Mabuza -- in his capacity as South Africa’s Special Envoy to South Sudan -- will chair the meeting of Parties to the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan.
The consultative meeting is on the contentious issue of the number of States and their boundaries.
The consultative meeting was preceded by the 13th Ordinary Summit of Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Heads of State and Government held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 29 November 2019.
The Deputy President arrived in Juba, South Sudan, on Monday at the invitation of IGAD.
The meeting will further be co-facilitated by the IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan, the Kenya Special Envoy to South Sudan IGAD, the Sudan Special Envoy to South Sudan and the Senior Advisor to the President of Uganda on South Sudan.
“We are hopeful that this consultative meeting will result in consensus on the remaining issues that led to the extension of the pre-transitional period. I have no doubt that all the signatories to the agreement want what is best for South Sudan and her people,” Deputy President Mabuza said.
The consultative meeting will take place from 2-3 December 2019 in Juba and will be attended by all the parties to the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan.
The Ordinary Summit commended South Sudan for the strides it made towards the consolidation of peace, more specifically, for silencing the guns for over a year.
The Deputy President is expected to join the IGAD Heads of State in urging parties to the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan to accomplish the pre-transitional tasks within the current extended window of one hundred days.
Heads of State will also urge the signatories to form the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity by the end of the extended period.
“Because of that concern for the people and the prosperity of South Sudan, these parties must reach a conclusion on the number of States and their boundaries to pave a way for the formation of the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity and ultimately bring lasting peace and stability in South Sudan,” said Mabuza. – SAnews.gov.za
