President Cyril Ramaphosa noted on Monday that South Sudan is now at a crucial point in its journey towards consolidating democracy, saying political parties are hard at work, and ensuring that the necessary preconditions are in place for elections that are free, fair and credible.

Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that despite the “ravages of a bitter war”, South Sudan was “remarkably” able to emerge and join the community of nations.

He said 30 years since South Africa attained its own freedom, government was proud of the country’s ongoing support for the efforts of fellow African countries to emerge from conflict to rebuild and consolidate democracy.

Elections in South Sudan are scheduled to be held in December, before the Revitalised Agreement expires in February 2025.

Last week Ramaphosa was on a working visit to South Sudan, where he received an update from his South Sudanese counterpart President Salva Kiir Mayardit on the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), which was signed in September 2018.

Ramaphosa said he was glad to see the progress that had been made in the run-up to the elections, including the establishment of a national elections commission and the registration of political parties.

“What is pleasing is that the South Sudanese are working together to address the outstanding issues on the agreed Roadmap as the country advances towards elections,” he said.

Ramaphosa highlighted that this proved that the adage “African solutions for African problems” was truly at work in South Sudan.

He said people needed to encourage and support the process.

He explained that when the internal conflict broke out, South Africa was among the countries that joined the peace effort, noting that the signing in 2018 of the R-ARCSS became a beacon of hope.

“It is admirable that the permanent ceasefire continues to hold and that the parties to the agreement have honoured their commitment to end armed conflict and engender national security by seeking to form a united national defence force through the cantonment and training of former combatants,” he said.

He said the political and legal framework being implemented outlined the aspirations of the people of South Sudan to bring a permanent end to armed conflict, consolidate democracy and determine their collective destiny.

Included in the agreement were commitments to adopt a permanent constitution and create unified security services, he added.

Ramaphosa said South Africa had provided development, mediation and other forms of assistance to South Sudan since 2005.

“We have been consistent in our support for the current Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity and the people of South Sudan as they navigate the transition period. We continue to provide support at a bilateral level and as the chairperson of the African Union High-Level Ad hoc Committee on South Sudan, also known as the C5. This committee consists of South Africa, Algeria, Chad, Nigeria and Rwanda,” he said.

He noted that South Africa helped South Sudan with capacity building for State institutions and programmes for post-conflict reconstruction.

“As Africa and as the international community, we owe it to a people who have suffered so much and for so long, to support South Sudan’s journey towards becoming a fully-fledged democracy. We have a collective responsibility to ensure that South Sudan is ultimately able to reap the dividends of peace and security, including economic prosperity,” said Ramaphosa.

He noted that prior to independence, the south of Sudan had been deliberately marginalised, leaving it one of the world’s least developed places, with high levels of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and poor health outcomes.

He said that South Sudan needed investment, particularly in social and economic infrastructure. He explained that a number of South African companies had demonstrated their confidence in South Sudan’s economy and had a presence there.