S. Africa joins mediation to promote peace in S. Sudan

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will represent South Africa in helping find a peaceful solution to the conflict in South Sudan, the Presidency said on Wednesday.

Ramaphosa, in his capacity as Special Envoy to South Sudan, will attend unity talks among factions of South Sudan's People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), scheduled for Arusha, Tanzania later Wednesday, the Presidency said in a statement.

On behalf of President Jacob Zuma, Ramaphosa will participate and bear witness to the signing of a unity agreement between different sections of the SPLM. The unity agreement was facilitated by South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC), Chama-cha Mapinduzi of Tanzania and National Resistance Movement of Uganda.

When South Sudan became a sovereign state on 9 July 2011, SPLM became the ruling party of the new republic. SPLM branches in Sudan separated themselves from SPLM, forming the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North. Further factionalism appeared as a result of the 2013-2014 South Sudanese Civil War, with President Salva Kiir leading the SPLM-Juba and former Vice President Riek Machar leading the SPLM-IO. Endi