President Thabo Mbeki is to visit Sudan later this week, coinciding with the expected finalisation of a peace deal between the Sudan government and rebels by a Friday deadline, the foreign affairs department said on Tuesday.
”The visit… must be understood within the context of the expected conclusion of the Naivasha Comprehensive Peace agreement between the government of Sudan and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) scheduled for December 31,” the department said.
Mbeki will hold discussions on the peace process with his counterpart Omar Hassan Ahmed el-Bashir and will receive a briefing on the topic from the Sudanese leadership.
”The signing of the Naivasha Agreement will… herald a new dawn in Sudan’s political and economic development,” the department said.
Mbeki will be accompanied by a high-level government and business delegation on the visit to Khartoum from Thursday to Saturday.
They include ministers Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (foreign affairs), Mosiuoa Lekota (defence), Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (minerals and energy) and Mandisi Mpahlwa (trade and industry). First lady Zanele Mbeki will also accompany the group.
An estimated two million people have died — mostly from famine — in a 21-year civil war in southern Sudan.
Conflict broke out in 1983 after rebels from the mainly Christian south took up arms against the predominantly Arab and Muslim north. The rebels claim to be fighting for better treatment and self-determination.
The Naivasha peace deal seeks to resolve the north-south conflict. A December 31 deadline has been set by the United Nations Security Council.
In western Sudan, an estimated two million people have been affected by and tens of thousands have died in a separate conflict between blacks and Arabs in Darfur.
Violence broke out in the region last January when two African armed groups rebelled over alleged unjust treatment by the government of Sudan.
Pro-government militias retaliated with attacks on villages in what UN officials have termed the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.
South Africa currently chairs an African Union committee on the post-conflict reconstruction of war-affected areas in the Sudan.
This week’s visit would give Mbeki an opportunity to discuss the committee’s work with el-Bashir, the department said. They would also discuss progress with an AU-sponsored peace process aimed at resolving the conflict in Darfur.
The department said South Africa had committed itself to providing, with the University of South Africa, training for the SPLM leadership and other cadres ”to equip them with skills and experience that will enable them to participate equitably in the Transitional National Government of the Sudan”.
The two presidents would also use the visit to discuss strategic bilateral political and economic relations.
The trade balance was currently in South Africa’s favour, with exports to Sudan totalling R296,8-million last year and R190-million for the first six months of 2004.
Imports from Sudan totalled R2,5-million and R668 000 for the same periods.
During the visit, Mbeki will also address a special sitting of Sudan’s National Assembly, receive a briefing from Sudanese leaders on the peace process for Darfur, and inaugurate the Chancery of the South African Mission in Khartoum. – Sapa