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Today, 9 January 2011, the people of South Sudan will vote in a referendum to decide whether they will remain part of a United Sudan or form a new independent state.
His Excellency President Jacob Zuma yesterday conveyed a message of well wishes to the leadership and the people of Sudan saying South Africa will continue to support all efforts of finding lasting solutions to the challenges of that country.
The South African government supports this referendum by the Sudanese in accordance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005. The CPA is the basis of a durable political solution to the conflict between the government of Sudan and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement, which is arguably the longest armed conflict on the African continent.
South Africa has deployed an Observer team comprising of 35 people inclusive of Members of Parliament (MPs), Government officials as well as Civil Society to form part of the African Union Observer Mission to assist in ensuring a conducive environment for a credible, free and fair referendum.
South Africa’s support is premised on the role the country plays as Chair of the African Union (AU) Committee on Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) in Sudan. Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane who has been intimately involved with the PCRD said “Given the history of the Sudan, we are convinced that the governments and the people of that country want to close the chapter of war and conflict and desire peace and development. And South Africa will continue to lend its support to these efforts”.
South Africa and Sudan enjoy cordial relations hence various South African government departments are currently involved in capacity building projects on education, public service, policing as well as justice and constitutional development.
In addition to the assistance provided in the Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development initiatives in Sudan, South Africa was also part of the AU Observer Mission during the general elections held in April 2010.