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Salva Kiir and Riek Machar hold the nation’s fate in their hands. Again. (X)
AFRICA

In South Sudan, the same two old men beat the same old war drums

Salva Kiir and Riek Machar hold the nation’s fate in their hands. Again

  • Garang Abraham Malak
4 min read
AFRICAN MILITIAS

The dichotomy of Dominic Ongwen

The brutality meted out to the infamous Ugandan warlord was almost as horrifying as that delivered by him

  • Andrew Arinaitwe
  • Eric Mwine-Mugaju
10 min read
Almost the entire task force became infected, including ten cabinet ministers and First Vice President Riek Machar.
CORONAVIRUS

Much of South Sudan’s cabinet has Covid-19. What happened?

And only two of the country’s five vice-presidents have not had the virus

  • David Mono Danga
3 min read
The people of South Sudan have been waiting for decades to see the perpetrators of atrocities held to account.
AFRICA

Lifting the arms embargo on South Sudan would be a disgrace

Later this month, the UN Security Council will vote on whether to lift the arms embargo on South Sudan. Doing so would be a terrible mistake

  • Thozamile Botha
4 min read
Although he had been in power for just over a year when the country went to the polls, owing to the early recall of his predecessor, Jacob Zuma (R), in February 2018, the election of the ANC was a stamp of approval for Cyril Ramaphosa (L) to lead South Africa through a sound domestic and foreign policy.
AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

After disastrous Zuma years, Ramaphosa must provide foreign policy clarity

For a country that is guided by ubuntu, South Africa has a record of embarrassing international blunders

  • Robert Shivambu
5 min read
Contenders: A fallout between South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir (left) and his deputy Riek Machar (right) in 2013 triggered civil war. Ceasefire and peace agreements have failed. (Albert Gonzalez Farran/CDS/AFP)
ATROCITIES WATCH AFRICA

Not the Nobel Prize: Giving war criminals the attention they deserve

A new ‘award’, Spoilers of Peace, is designed to name and shame those people preventing peace in South Sudan

  • Simon Allison
3 min read
Nyagonga Machul, 38, touches the feet of her younger daughter, Nyawan Mario, 4, in their home at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Protection of Civilian site (CoP) in Juba, South Sudan. (Reuters/Siegfried Modola)
AGENCY

More than 100 civilians killed in fresh S. Sudan violence, UN says

At least 104 people had been killed in attacks on villages in the southern region, the United Nations said on Wednesday

  • Agency
2 min read
South Sudan President Salva Kiir (pictured) on Tuesday urged rebel chief Riek Machar to return to Juba during a speech to parliament in which he vowed to uphold a shaky peace deal.
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH SUDAN

Kiir urges rival Machar to return to South Sudan

President Salva Kiir urges rebel chief Riek Machar to return to Juba during speech to parliament

  • Agency
3 min read
South Sudan’s rebels with weapons travel in a truck in a rebel-controlled territory in Jonglei State. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)
ADDIS ABABA

South Sudan rivals meet in bid to salvage stalled peace deal

An August 2015 peace deal collapsed almost a year after it was signed and the conflict spread, drawing in more groups around the country

  • Agency
3 min read
South Sudan president Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machat (Reuters)
ADDIS ABABA

South Sudan rivals meet in bid to salvage stalled peace deal

​South Sudan’s warring parties will hold talks in Addis Ababa on Thursday, in a bid to salvage a stalled peace deal

  • Agency
3 min read
Soldiers of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) cheer during the commemoration of SPLA Day at the SPLA headquarters in Juba, South Sudan. (Albert Gonzalez-Farran/AFP)
RIEK MACHAR

South Sudan’s bid to build a new army is troubled

Factors such as the militia and ethnic loyalties may prevent the formation of a united defence force

  • Gwinyayi A Dzinesa
7 min read
South Sudan president Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machat (Reuters)
ABIY AHMED

Hope, scepticism as warring South Sudan leaders sign peace deal

Hopes are high that the agreement will end the war which has cost the lives of tens of thousands of people

  • Chris Stein
3 min read
In (somewhat) happier times
JOHANNESBURG

Riek Machar’s lonely  ’exile’ in SA

The South Sudanese leader is stateless and cut off from friends and family

  • Simon Allison
7 min read
South Sudan has been embroiled in civil war since 2013.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION

South Sudan’s crisis is complex, but there’s a way out of war and fragility

South Sudan has a huge challenge ahead to achieve and maintain peace.

  • Staff Reporter
6 min read
Almost the entire task force became infected, including ten cabinet ministers and First Vice President Riek Machar.
JUBA

South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar ‘under house arrest’ in Pretoria, says source

A well-connected regional political consultant said Machar was being kept ‘basically under house arrest’ near Pretoria with his movements restricted.

  • Peter Fabricius 1
  • Denis Dumo
3 min read
Patson Dzamara.
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

Mbeki comments on the South Sudan crisis, urges reconciliation

Former president Thabo Mbeki was the African Union’s chief mediator in the conflict in Sudan that led to the creation of South Sudan in 2011.

  • Staff Reporter
3 min read
Almost the entire task force became infected, including ten cabinet ministers and First Vice President Riek Machar.
RIEK MACHAR

South Sudan deal must sow seeds of peace, says UN

South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir has signed a deal, saying he did so with "serious reservations", to end a conflict with rebels.

  • Denis Dumo
5 min read
Almost the entire task force became infected, including ten cabinet ministers and First Vice President Riek Machar.
AFP

South Sudan: No peace while president in power, says rebel leader

Riek Machar, leader of South Sudan’s rebels, warned the country’s civil war would continue as long as President Salva Kiir remained in power.

  • Staff Reporter
2 min read
AARON MAASHO

South Sudan’s president, rebel leader sign ceasefire

The ceasefire between South Sudan’s government and rebels will end months of violence and see the formation of a transitional government.

  • Aaron Maasho
4 min read
The government continues to deny the existence of a deep and widespread famine. Photo: Ahmed Satti/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
CEASEFIRE

Security tightened after deadly attack on UN base in South Sudan

South Sudan has sent troops to secure a UN base which was attacked by gunmen on Thursday, who killed at least 48 people.

  • Carl Odera
2 min read