The SPLM-IO has denied reports of alleged house arrest of former South Sudan’s first vice president and rebel leader Riek Machar in South Africa.
Kuong Dak, senior member of the SPLM-IO and former MP, told Radio Tamazuj yesterday that Riek Machar entered South African legally and that he is moving freely without any restriction.
He pointed out that Machar will leave South African soon. “Riek Machar is not under house arrest, he went to South Africa for medical treatment, and now he is free, he can travel to Khartoum and Addis Ababa or elsewhere, “said Dak.
According to Reuters, in South Africa, a well-connected regional political consultant said Machar was being held “basically under house arrest” near Pretoria with his movements restricted and his phone calls monitored and controlled.
However Foreign Minister Spokesman Clayson Monyela had denied that Machar is being detained, rather terming him as a ‘guest’ of Pretoria as South Africa tries to prevent the war from sliding into a potential genocide.