Juba - South African Deputy President David Mabuza on Saturday congratulated South Sudan's leaders for resolving conflict through peaceful means and using dialogue to find lasting solutions.
"As South Africa, we hold dear the view that Africa’s problems require African solutions in order to build a better Africa and a better world," he said in a message of support on behalf of President Cyril Ramaphosa at the launch of the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGNU) of South Sudan in the capital Juba.
It was this fundamental principle that had guided South Africa's engagement with the world and had informed the country's position in lending a hand wherever conflict broke out on the continent. South Africa's own history, made the country appreciate the need to resolve any conflict through peaceful means and to use dialogue to find lasting solutions, Mabuza said.
"We thus join you on this day to mark the beginning of a journey of healing and of national unity; a journey of sustained peace and development; and a journey of building a truly united and democratic South Sudan."
A few years ago, the world welcomed South Sudan to the family of nations as a new nation state. Yet, in less than a decade, "we lost our way" and halted the momentum of a rising South Sudan that was at peace with itself and her neighbours. Many people were displaced and lives were lost. Without a doubt, there had been problems along the way as a result of political differences.
"As much as we may hold different perspectives on how this newer nation must evolve, there is no reason for our differences to result in conflict. Any other path except peaceful pursuit of development and nation building would be costly and may cause the damage that would be difficult to fully recover from.
"It is in this regard that we congratulate you for the path of peace that you have taken. Through dialogue, you have once again proven to the world that you have the interest of peace and development of South Sudan and its people at heart," he said.
Millions of people of goodwill around the world were watching with keen interest how South Sudan would manage the next steps of constituting a government, the writing of the permanent constitution, and holding of democratic elections.
"It is the moment where you seized the country from the cliff of self-inflicted destruction and made peace and development a lived reality. We commend President Salva Kiir and First Vice-President Riek Machar, as well as all other parties and stakeholders to the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan for rightfully choosing peace and development instead of prolonged war that could have easily made this country a failed state," Mabuza said.