As South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa concluded his three-day working visit to South Sudan, he has called on the parties to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement to dialogue and find consensus on outstanding issues before the end of the transition period in December.

Addressing journalists in Juba on Thursday, Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, said President Ramaphosa urged the parties to remain committed to the peace agreement as the most viable vehicle to address the root causes of the conflict and to build sustainable peace in South Sudan.

“As the president returns to South Africa, he is hopeful that the parties will continue to dialogue and find consensus on outstanding issues of the implementation of the revitalized agreement so that the people of South Sudan can look forward to a peaceful and democratic end to the transitional period,” she said. “On behalf of his government and the people of South Africa, President Ramaphosa reiterates his commitment and his country's commitment to support the South Sudanese as they go through the transitional period.”

Minister Naledi added: “He (Ramaphosa) further asserted that South Africa will provide every support possible within their means to ensure a democratic and peaceful end to the transitional period and he thanks you for the wonderful hospitality and joy in Juba.”

She said that during the three-day visit, the South African leader met with various leaders and institutions including the RJEMEC, IGAD, and African Union among others.

“In this regard, he indicates he had engagements with the representatives of the reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), with IGAD and the African Union Mission in South Sudan and he appreciated the insightful assessments on the situation in the country,” the South African minister stated.

For his part, James Pitia Morgan, South Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, applauded President Ramaphosa for the visit, saying South Sudan’s leaders had briefed him on their efforts to implement the agreement.

“South Africa has not left us all this time. During the time of the negotiation of this revitalized peace agreement, South Africa was always by our side and also has always been standing with the people of this country. So, His Excellency President Ramaphosa of South Africa has come as a friend and brother of this country and as a guarantor of the agreement,” he said, “President Salva Kiir assured them that that is why we are working together and we found out that we have not accomplished some articles of the agreement and there is a need for extension and that is what the transitional period was extended by 24 months that time.”

South Africa is one of the guarantors of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) which was signed on 12 September 2018. South Africa is also the Chair of the African Union High-Level Ad-hoc Committee for South Sudan (also known as C5), which has been mandated by the African Union to support South Sudan in its transitional process.

South Sudan and South Africa to waive visas

In light of recent developments, South Sudan and South Africa have revealed plans to wave visa requirements between the two nations.

“During the discussions of the principles, we mentioned a little bit of something that will happen maybe soon when the leaders agree is to waive the visa so that you people of South Africa do not need to bother yourself about the visa to come to South Sudan because this is your country and we will make sure that we work on it,” Minister Pitia said. This is one of our bilateral issues to bring our people closer and we will do that as our leaders give us the green light to process this visa waiver between the two countries.”