African regional leaders from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, (IGAD), The African Union and the United Nations Security Council have given yet another ultimatum to the warring factions in South Sudan to reach an agreement on outstanding issues and seal a final deal. The 28th extraordinary summit of heads of state and government of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development was last Friday wrapping up in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, after two days of intensive discussions on South Sudan. IGAD, the regional bloc mediating the two South Sudan warring parties has brought President Salva Kiir and his former deputy turned rebel leader, Riek Machar, to face-to-face talks on Thursday and Friday last week. To help us unpack this we are joined on the line by:
• Ambassador Philip Jada Natana, Head of Mission of South Sudan
• Professor Fanie Vermaak: Lecturer at the Department of Semitics at Unisa:
• Luka Biong Deng : Director of the Centre for Peace and Development Studies, University of Juba, Global Fellow at the Peace Research Institute Oslo and Associate Fellow at the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.
