PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma’s one-day visit on Monday to meet the presidents of Tanzania and Uganda was intended to further the peace process for war-torn South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.

M7 with Zuma

The president’s one-day working visit included a meeting in Dar-es-Salaam with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and followed the recent visit of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit to South Africa. Later in the day Mr Zuma met Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Kampala.

Mr Zuma’s visit consolidated the work of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa who has been tasked as Mr Zuma’s special envoy with restoring peace and stability in South Sudan. This has also involved discussions with rebel leader Riek Machar.

Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said that Mr Zuma had found the talks with the two presidents “fruitful and helpful”, adding that the three countries would continue working together in the pursuit of peace and stability on the African continent.

Ministerial spokesman for the department of international relations and cooperation Clayson Monyela insisted that South Africa’s role as peace broker in the region had the full blessing of the African Union.

He would not comment on the prospects for achieving peace in South Sudan, which has been ravaged by war throughout the year. Previous attempts to reach a ceasefire have failed. More than 10,000 people have been killed in the fighting and more than 1-million have been displaced by the conflict which erupted last December after Mr Kiir accused the sacked former vice-president Mr Machar of trying to stage a coup, a charge Mr Machar denies.

The dispute escalated into clashes between members of Mr Kiir’s ethnic Dinka community and Mr Machar’s Nuer group.