Pretoria– Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to arrive in Juba in South Sudan today, for the Conference of the South Sudanese Liberation Movement.
The Presidency on Wednesday said the Deputy President will represent President Jacob Zuma at the Conference, which gets underway on Thursday and concludes on Friday.
The visit follows the extension of an invitation to President Zuma by South Sudanese President Salva Kirr. Deputy President Ramaphosa is President Zuma’s Special Envoy to South Sudan.
The Deputy President, working together with Tanzania’s ruling party Chama cha –Mapinduzi Secretary-General, Abdurahman Kinana, has been involved in efforts aimed at facilitating unity among the various factions of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) with a view to bringing an end to war and to herald the era of peace in South Sudan.
“In pursuance of this objective and working within the framework of the Arusha Agreement signed in October 2014 as facilitated by leaders of South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, Deputy President Ramaphosa, together with Abdurahman Kinana, has been involved in a number of confidence building initiatives to help unify the ranks of the SPLM.
“These included, among others, the facilitation of the return to Juba in 2015 of several SPLM (Detainees) who were exiled abroad.
“The return of the former detainees culminated in Deputy President Ramaphosa addressing the SPLM Extended National Liberation Council meeting in the capital,” said the Presidency.
Deputy President Ramaphosa will return to South Africa on Friday.
