Exiled opposition leader Riek Machar’s planned visit to the capital Juba today has been postponed, a senior opposition official said.

Manawa Peter Gatkuoth, deputy spokesman of the opposition SPLM-IO, told Radio Tamazuj this morning that a planned visit by Machar to Juba today has been postponed until tomorrow.

“Machar’s visit to Juba is always connected to Sudan and IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development],” he said.

“Dr. Machar was expected to come to Juba today, but we have just been informed that the visit has been postponed to Tuesday,” he added.

The opposition official further said South Africa’s Deputy President David Mabuza, who facilitates the talks on the number of states, will hold a meeting with Machar on Tuesday.

According to Manawa, opposition leader Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir will hold crucial talks on pending tasks of the peace deal.

The scheduled meeting between all parties to the September 2018 peace deal comes as a 22 February deadline approaches to form a unity government.

However, steps toward key benchmarks in the peace deal – unifying armed forces and drawing boundaries of states – are lagging behind schedule.