President Jacob Zuma, head of South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC), has dispatched the ANC Deputy President as a special envoy to South Sudan to facilitate intra-party talks within the divided SPLM.

Cyril Ramaphosa is the South African party’s deputy president and chairman of MTN Group, Africa’s biggest mobile-phone company. He is visiting South Sudan and other neighbouring countries from 5-12 March to consult and find solutions to the unrest in the South Sudan ruling party, the Catholic Radio Network reported.

According to Andrews Atta-Asamoah, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), the main thing Ramaphosa brings to the talks is that he is “the embodiment of the South African government, which has influence within both factions of the SPLM,” as well as proven qualities as a negotiator.

“The most laudable thing he can do is to throw his weight behind IGAD and not establish a second track of negotiations,” said Atta-Asamoah, in an article published at the website of ISS, a policy research organization located in Pretoria, South Africa.

The researcher explained that Ramaphosa “could help to break the current stalemate in the IGAD talks” through his involvement in the parallel SPLM talks.

The SPLM intra-party in Addis Ababa are loosely under the auspices of IGAD, though separate from the now suspended direct government-to-opposition talks, which are directly mediated by IGAD.

Ethiopia’s ruling party the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is also joining in the facilitation of the SPLM intra-party dialogue. ISS cited South African officials as describing the SPLM talks as a ‘second track’ in the peace talks in Ethiopia.

Ramaphosa last visited Juba in October 2013, accompanied by Collins Chabane, minister in the presidency, as part of a direct SPLM-ANC dialogue.

Photo: ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa

Related:

Cyril Ramaphosa has his work cut out in South Sudan (Institute for Security Studies, 6 March)

SPLM internal reconciliation initiative aims to move stalled South Sudan peace talks (Radio Tamazuj, 5 March)