In those heady, early days of democracy South Africa was often said to be punching above its weight diplomatically.

There was not a country that did not want to be the friend of Nelson Mandela’s success story.

Many sought help, hoping that rubbing  up against  it might bring some good fortune.

So, in addition to their considerable domestic commitments Mandela and his early successors were required to be counsellors and mediators.

They were expected to explain how they  achieved the seemingly impossible end of apartheid and the reconciliation that brought about the Rainbow Nation.

Northern Ireland is perhaps the best example of this

Many times, South African leaders were obliged to apply these lessons by actually stepping  in between parties in conflict and brokering a peace.

This applied mainly in Africa where South African mediation achieved settlements in Sudan, Comoros, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire and Lesotho.

The fact that things have lately gone pear-shaped in many of these nations is a debate for another day.

However badly things have fared, they are indubitably better off having  had South African mediation and peacekeeping at a time when the rest of the  world was either unwilling or incapable to intervening.

Thankfully, that is not the case in Sudan today.

The African Union has built the confidence and experience to make its presence felt by red-carding the Transitional Military Council until it hands power to a civilian administration.

The Arab nations are there, albeit misguidedly lending moral support to the military junta in Khartoum until the generals made the fatal error of deploying the former janjaweed against unarmed protestors.

The United States has got involved, sending Tibor Nagy its top envoy to Africa to urge an and to the violence.

It has also named Donald Booth as its special envoy to Sudan – the ninth since 2001.

Not only Washington, but Hollywood has skin in the game through activity actor George Clooney calling on the U.S. Treasury to use its muscle with international banks to dry up the financial stream to the junta in Khartoum and anyone seeking to prolong the conflict in the strategically place country bridging Africa and the Arab worlds.

Look for South Africa in this crowd and you will be disappointed.

Does this mean the days of Mzanzi mediation are over?

Probably not.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has his hands full pulling South Africa out of the economic swamp.

For him it is very much a case of charity beginning at home.

The sad reality is the wasted Zuma years of Zuma corruption has cut the moral high ground from under South Africa’s feet.

That is ironic, because Zuma himself was a good, although tough, mediator.

“Do you really think you can twist a man’s arm behind his back hard enough to  get him to sign a settlement with his free hand?” I asked him in jest after he had brought a reluctant  Pierre Nkurunziza into the Burundi deal.

“What do you think the did to us at Codesa?” he retorted.

ends

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An audience increasing in number and enthusiasm is waiting for the resumption of negotiations on the future governance of Sudan.

The most involved and therefore the most passionate are the Sudanese themselves.

They are divided between civilians seeking complete change from the 30-year regime of ousted President Omar Al Bashir and the military desperately trying to maintain the status quo by clinging to power at any cost.

The African continent is deeply immersed in the future of its second largest member.

The African Union has taken the unprecedented step of suspending Sudan under its current military junta because of the June 3 slaying of at least 118 unarmed pro-democracy activists.

The AU red card will be enforced until the Transitional Military Council hands power to a civilian led administration.

There is skepticism about  exactly what muscle the continental body can bring to bear on the generals.

However, there is no gainsaying that the AU has at last taken up the role it was designed to in 2002 when it replaced the cosy coterie of Organisation of African Unity  leaders who refused to criticize each other let alone interfere in their affairs.

The AU, following the genocide in Rwanda, determined that it would intervene to stop crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and gross human rights violations.

The reluctance all too often to take decisive actions has undermined the credibility of the body.

Those concerned with human rights are hoping the AU has turned a corner by acting against the Khartoum junta.

When it seemed that the prospect for negotiations had died along with the demonstrators outside military headquarters in the Sudanese capital, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed flew in to offer his services as mediator.

Both military and civilian leaders accepted Ahmed who has built a considerable reputation by making peace with Eritrea and Somalia.

He left behind in Khartoum an official  Mahmoud Dirir who is the source of optimism about negotiations resuming.

Details are lacking, but Dirir does have undertakings from the Alliance for Freedom and Change and the Sudan Professionals Association to call off the general strike which has brought the economy of the country to a standstill this week.

He also has a promise from the generals to release political prisoners taken since the June 3 massacre.

These groups have a mountain to climb.

They have made virtually no progress in talks designed to agree on the composition of a transitional administration leading to elections.

Ahmed is expected back in Sudan this week to continue his face-to-face efforts.

He is understood to have proposed  15-person body consisting of eight civilians and seven soldiers.

The civilian groups have six pre-conditions for a resumption of talks:

The removal of soldiers from the streets of Khartoum and other Sudanese cities;

An international investigation into the June 3 killings;

The release of political detainees;

Restoration of the internet;

Press freedom; and 

The Transitional Military Council accepting responsibility for the attacks on protestors.

Also headed for Khartoum is the United States Assistant Secretary of State For Africa Tibor Nagy.

The U.S. holds a big stick over Sudan because if only recently removed it from the list of terror-sponsoring countries which attract American sanctions.

Nagy’s brief is to get an assurance from the military that it will not again attack demonstrators and to secure an atmosphere conducive for negotiations.

Activist film star George Clooney, who co-founded the watchdog called The Sentinel with former African Affairs Director at the U.S. National Security Council John  Prendergast, says Washington must use political and diplomatic weapons to give substance to Nagy’s mission.

Having been involved Darfur in the early 2000s, when it was the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet, Clooney is well versed in the iniquities of the Sudanese military and particularly its paramilitary terror group known as the janjaweed who now go by the more anodyne name of the Rapid Support Force.

The Sentinel is in the business of cutting off the financial stream to groups violating human rights and promoting violence in conflict zones like Darfur

Clooney says the U.S. Treasury must  issue an anti-money-laundering advisory to banks around the world to stop the illicit financial flows to human rights offenders and corrupt officials in  Sudan.

He points out that Washington has done this in Venezuela and Ukraine.

Using the 2016 Global Magnitsky Act, and eliciting the help of allies in Europe and Africa,  Clooney says the Trump Administration can ensure there are consequences for the military regime in Sudan and particularly the janjaweed.

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He says this will give muscle to calls for restraint by the military against civilian protestors made by Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Tibor Nagy who was in Khartoum yesterday.

George Clooney founded the watchdog group called The Sentry with former African Affairs director at the National Security Council John Prendergast.

He says they’re looking to ensure there are consequences for Sudan’s  military junta and the paramilitary janjaweed  they deployed a Darfur a decade ago and Khartoum today.

But he’s urging the US Treasury to issue an international anti money laundering advisory, like it did against Venezuela and Ukraine, to stop illicit financial flows from Sudan

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