Department of International Relations and Cooperation:

SOUTH SUDAN
Presentation to the Portfolio Committee by Ambassador
Jerry Matjila: Director General

3 JUNE 2015
Map of South Sudan

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 Historical Background and appointment of the Special Envoy.
 Outbreak of conflict in South Sudan on 15 December 2013, was due to an alleged attempt by former Vice-
President, Riek Machar to remove President Salva Kiir from office.
 The diagnostic analysis of the genesis of the conflict pointed to the internal divisions within the ruling
SPLM
 The conflict prompted President Jacob Zuma to appoint the Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa as his
Special Envoy to the Republic of South Sudan
 South Africa’s political intervention in South Sudan is therefore premised on the notion that a solution to
the ongoing conflict lies primarily in the reconciliation of the SPLM
 The intra-party process would constitute the second track while the IGAD mediation constitutes the first
track in the process towards finding lasting peace in South Sudan
 Thousands of people have been killed, while over a million have been left internally displaced and over
five hundred thousand have fled as refugees to neighbouring countries. This has left the entire country in
a critical humanitarian crisis, raising much concern among the entire international community.
 The regional block, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has, since January 2014,
been seized with the conflict in South Sudan through a mediation process aimed at finding a lasting
solution to resolving the conflict.
 The mediation process resulted in the signing of the ceasefire agreements in January, May and June
2014.
 The IGAD’s subsequent Protocol of 25 August 2014, outlined the terms towards the formation of the
Government of National Unity with the aim of accommodating the interests of the parties to the conflict to
ensure cessation of hostilities for a period leading to elections.

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 Historical Background and appointment of the Special
Envoy (cont).
 In an attempt to put pressure on the three SPLM faction groups, IGAD bloc issued a deadline for
the warring factions to reach a comprehensive peace agreement.
 The opposing groups were unable to meet the deadline and to date, no peace agreement has been
reached.
 The IGAD-led talks have been suspended indefinitely. However, the IGAD bloc has indicated that
it intends to continue working with the different SPLM group to reach a conclusion on the proposed
transitional government.
 The IGAD process has since been expanded to the IGAD plus with the hope that the extended
role-players will successfully achieve consensus between the parties and obtain the elusive peace
agreement.
 The IGAD-plus includes five Africa representatives i.e. South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Chad and
Rwanda; it also includes the Troika (USA, UK and Norway), China, the UN, the EU and the AU.
 IGAD has also requested Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir to increase its efforts in facilitating the
ongoing talks on South Sudan
 Concurrent and complementary to the peace talks, an Intra- party dialogue has been formulated to
tackle the core issues that led to the party split. South Africa played a key role in the facilitation of
the talks with Tanzania as a co-guarantor.

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 APPOINTMENT OF THE SPECIAL ENVOY TO SOUTH SUDAN

 In support of the regional mediation efforts of (IGAD), and in light of South Africa’s historical
bonds with the Republic of South Sudan, President Zuma responded to requests for South Africa
to contribute to these efforts through the appointment of a Special Envoy to South Sudan

 The appointment of the Special Envoy for South Sudan launched South Africa’s political
intervention in South Sudan with a clear mandate of focusing on the intra-party dialogue

 This process is to be seen as complementary to and not in competition with the mediation process
led by the regional body, IGAD

 It was furthermore motivated by what was identified as the genesis of the problem – the
leadership crisis and poor governance within the SPLM.

 The Intra-Party Dialogue is aimed at assisting the ruling SPLM government to tackle and find a
lasting and peaceful resolution to the root causes of the internal strife of the party.

 Additionally, the Dialogue would assist the party in transforming into an institutionalised political
party.

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 MANDATE OF THE SPECIAL ENVOY TO SOUTH SUDAN

 The mandate of the Special Envoy has been to engage with the Government of South Sudan, warring
factions, regional leaders and other relevant parties involved with a view to finding lasting solutions to
intra-party factions.

 Negotiations have been focusing on resolving the power struggles amongst the conflicting parties, the
SPLM-IG (In Government), SPLM-IO (In Oppositions) and the SPLM-FD (Former Detainees).

 The Special Envoy team deployed in South Sudan since May 2014, have conducted consultations with all
the relevant stakeholders in South Sudan and are committed to the intra-party process

 Their continued engagement with the relevant stakeholders remain an important element towards reaching
lasting peace in South Sudan

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 SUPPORT MECHANISM SA GOVT PUT IN PLACE IN SUPPORT OF SOUTH SUDAN

• Special Envoy Technical Team. The Special Envoy team deployed in South Sudan since May
2014 has concluded the first phase of consultations with all the relevant stakeholders in South
Sudan. Their continued engagement with the relevant stakeholders remains an important element
toward reaching lasting peace in South Sudan.

• Interdepartmental workshop held in September 2014 to agree on a PCRD strategy for South
Sudan. Proposed strategy for the revival and strengthening of the South African PCRD project in
South Sudan was developed following the workshop

• Humanitarian Assistance- R15 million has been set aside for Humanitarian Assistance towards
South Sudan

• Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Assistance. (Capacity building on South

Sudanese Public Service officials in various sectors) – 1600 South Sudanese trained by various
government departments

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 Role-players in the Conflict & issues
 The role players in the conflict are;

 the SPLM-IG (In Government),

 SPLM-IO (In Oppositions) and
 the SPLM-FD (Former Detainees).

• All three parties are in agreement to the creation of a Prime Minister post in the new democratic
government

• The contention within the talks have centered around the role of the Prime Minister and ultimately
in the amount of power that will be bestowed on the Prime Minister.

• The other contentious issue is that of power sharing ratio in the government post transition

• The lack of agreement between the Government of South Sudan led by President Kiir and the
opposing faction of Dr Riek Machar continues to generate instability in the country.

• Neither of the warring parties has complied with the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) as
a result, continued sporadic attacks and hostilities plague the country.

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 TRIPS UNDERTAKEN BY THE SPECIAL ENVOY TO SOUTH SUDAN

 The Special Envoy has visited the region 5 times. The first visit kick-started with a fact finding
mission to South Sudan from 5 to 12 March 2014
 He conducted visits to Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya with the aim of uncovering the
root causes of the conflict and familiarising himself with the unfolding events in the Republic of
South Sudan.
 Subsequent visits to the region followed including internal meetings in SA involving the concerned
parties
 The visits underscored the complementarity of the intra-party dialogue to the mediation efforts of
the region.
 It is within the context of the Intra-party dialogue that a working visit of the Deputy President is
taking place from 1-4 June 2015, to Kenya and South Sudan.
 Thus, the working visit is being utilised to re-ignite the implementation of the discussions conducted
with the former detainees during various contact visits with the Special Envoy and the Arusha
Reunification Agreement signed in January 2015
 The Arusha Intra-Party process is progressing well as evidenced by the above mentioned visit
where the Special Envoy took the five former detainees to Juba to discuss their expected
permanent return. This has brought hope to South Sudan.
 The Special Envoy has also utilized the opportunity to continue his engagements with the relevant
role-players of the Intra-party dialogue i.e. representatives of Tanzania’s ruling CCM, President
Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, President Salva Kiir of South Sudan as well as the former detainees.

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 ISSUES IN THE UN REPORT ON SOUTH SUDAN

 The UN Security Council (UNSC) has been considering targeted sanctions since 2014
against certain individuals seen to be central to the conflict in South Sudan.

 On 3 March 2015, the UNSC unanimously adopted Resolution 2206(2015), which outlined
proposed punitive sanctions which will include travel bans, freezing of assets of individuals
as well as an arms embargo.

 The impending sanctions are expected to target those allegedly responsible for, or engaged
directly or indirectly in actions threatening the peace, security and stability of South Sudan.

 On 24 March 2015, the UNSC President issued a statement reiterating the threat of
sanctions against leaders of South Sudan.

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 CURRENT SITUATION, IMPLICATIONS & ALTERNATIVES
 The end the conflict in South Sudan was expected to be concluded with a peace agreement on 5
March 2015. This, however, has not occurred as the main protagonists to the conflict did not reach
agreement on fundamental issues related to the proposed transitional government.

 The discussions, once resumed, have the potential to create a solid ground for lasting peace and
stability in South Sudan. These will also assist discussions on sensitive and delicate contentious
issues within the party with the aim of finding sustainable solutions.

 Though the members of the SPLM welcome the need for reconciliation, hardliners within the party
are opposed to the idea of integrating the former vice-president, Dr Riek Machar, because of his
previous record

 In light of the impending expiration of the term of office of the current administration, there is
mounting fear that a vacuum in governance will lead to an undesirable set of circumstances in
South Sudan.
 While the Electoral Commission has announced that it is preparing to hold national elections by
June 2015, there is a possibility that elections may not take place, as the conditions necessary for
holding credible elections are non-existent.

 The Government does not have funds, while potential donors are shying away in the belief that a
political settlement is the only way forward.

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 CURRENT SITUATION, IMPLICATIONS & ALTERNATIVES (Cont)

 While the IGAD-led talks have been suspended indefinitely, the IGAD bloc has
indicated that it intends to continue working with the different SPLM groups to reach a
conclusion on the proposed transitional government

 The IGAD process has since been expanded to the IGAD plus with the hope that the
extended role-players will successfully achieve consensus between the parties and
obtain the elusive peace agreement

 IGAD has also requested the Sudan President Omar al-Bashir to increase its efforts in
facilitating the ongoing peace talks on South Sudan

 South Africa and Tanzania’s efforts through the intra-party dialogue, which is
complementary to the IGAD talks, has brought hope to South Sudan, particularly the
return of the five former political detainees

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 South Africa’s Position
• To encourage the former detainees to do everything possible to return to
South Sudan in an effort to kick-starting the implementation of the
Reunification Agreement
• To re-affirm South Africa’s commitment to the intraparty dialogue and the
need for the different factions to commit to the agreements
• To underscore South Africa’s continuing support for the IGAD-led mediation
process as well as the Intra-Party process
• To underscore the need for the on-going war in South Sudan to stop and to
emphasise the need to find a political solution under the Agreed Protocol on
Transitional Government of National Unity.

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 Conclusion

• The intra-party process, led by South Africa and Tanzania has reached a critical
stage with the proposed permanent return by end of June of former political
detainees.
• The Special Envoy’s current visit has opened a new chapter and momentum
towards resolving the on-going conflict in South Sudan
• The meeting of the five former detainees with the government, politburo and
National Liberation Council on 2 June, 2015, facilitated by the Special Envoy, has
ushered in a new dawn for peaceful resolution of the South Sudanese political
security and humanitarian crisis.
• The next step is to engage Riek Machar and this engagement will be led by Heads
of State of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa

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