South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in South Sudan’s capital Juba on Tuesday evening for a three-day official visit.

The South African leader was received by his counterpart President Salva Kiir at the Juba Airport. 

Speaking to reporters in Juba, South Sudan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramadan Abdalla Goc said that the two leaders will discuss ways to strengthen and enhance bilateral relations between Juba and Pretoria.

 “The President of South Africa will meet with the Chairman of the Elections Commission regarding the conduct of the upcoming elections, leaders of political parties and other senior officials,” he said.

 “We do believe that the President of South Africa as a guarantor of the peace agreement will sit with leaders of South Sudan to see how South Sudan is prepared for general elections. All institutions are ready for the elections to be conducted in South Sudan,” he added.

The 2018 peace agreement in South Sudan is coming to an end on 22 February 2025 and must be preceded by general elections scheduled for December 2024.

South Africa has participated in various conflict resolution and mediation mechanisms and programmes for post-conflict reconstruction and development in South Sudan.

 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.

Bilateral relations between South Africa and South Sudan are conducted through the General Cooperation Agreement (GCA) which was signed in 2013.