The United States chastised Salva Kiir, the President of South Sudan on August 18 for the latter’s refusal to sign any peace agreement which will stop the civil war presently raging in the nation.
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Machar and Pagan Amum, secretary general of the ruling party, signed a peace deal on Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, whereas President Salva Kiir refused to sign.
Dlamini-Zuma reportedly said in a statement, “Deadlock in the peace process can only spell further disaster for South Sudan and its people, with far reaching implications for regional security and stability”.
“We are trying to sharpen the choices that lie ahead for the leadership of South Sudan and make very plain that there is only once choice that is left to be made and that choice is the choice for peace and for security“, said the senior diplomat, reports Reuters.
South Sudan, an oil producer which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, descended into chaos in December 2013 when a political row between Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar spiralled into armed conflict that reopened ethnic faultlines.
More than 2 million people have been displaced by the conflict and 4.6 million, nearly half of the population, are facing severe food insecurity, according to the UN.
The Minister also revealed that South Sudanese leaders were dismayed by statements by the chief mediator Seyoum Mesfin, saying his remarks bordered on threats.
They oppose power sharing and the demilitarization of the capital Juba, where the war began between rival army factions.
He called on “all belligerents to immediately cease all hostilities, uphold global human rights and humanitarian law, and extend their full cooperation to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)”.
Rebels accused the government of wanting a military solution, and said they were attacked near the small but strategic southern town of Pageri on Tuesday, on the main road south from the capital Juba towards the Ugandan border.
“We have had a lot of time”.
Fighting between government and rebel forces resumed following Mr Kiir’s failure to endorse the deal on Monday.
“Imminent, I think that was the word”, Gerard van Bohemen, the New Zealand ambassador, said on Wednesday at the UN headquarters in New York.
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Earlier this month, security forces shut down two newspapers and a radio station after they reportedly promoted a proposed peace agreement that the government has since dismissed as a “sellout”.
