South Sudan State of Emergency

South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir has declared a state of emergency in part of the country’s north-west. Reasons for the decree have not been made available. The state of emergency is expected to last for three months. The conflict in South Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than two million since 2013. The last state of emergency was in 2014 in Unity State in the north and Jonglei in the east, as rebels fought government forces. Tensions continue between both sides as heavy fighting has also escalated in the east of the country. To help us unpack this, we are joined on the line by:• His Excellency Ambassador Natana: South Sudan Ambassador to South Africa• Jok Madut Jok, executive director of the Sudd Institute• Kwezi Mnqibisa, researcher at ACCORD.