Civil Africa, Again

"Bentiu is in the hands of a commander who has declared support for Machar. Bentiu is not in our hands."
Col. Philip Aguer, South Sudanese military spokesman

"You are urged to leave now by commercial means, as it may become increasingly difficult to do so if the situation deteriorates further."
Advisory, Foreign Affairs, Canada

South Sudanese refugee camp -- Getty Images

"We are here to stay, and will carry on in our collective resolve to work with and for the people of South Sudan. To anyone who wants to threaten us, attack us or put obstacles in our way, our message remains loud and clear: we will not be intimidated."
Hilde Johnson, secretary-general envoy, South Sudan

The war with Sudan is the past. Then, African tribes were beset by the Arab Sudanese, and it was a Muslim conflict against Christians and Animists over territory and opposition to rule from Khartoum. The long-awaited separation making South Sudan a sovereign state with oil assets of its own hasn't settled the conflicts between the two now-separate countries completely, but tribal conflicts, as is usual in African countries have risen to the fore.

One tribe simply is incapable of lending itself to the dominance of the other. Not even when state functions are shared. South Sudan was led by a president of the Dinka tribe, its deputy president a member of the ethic Nuer, and ethnic discord is a plague that haunts tribal societies. Former vice-president Riek Machar, dismissed from his position by President Salva Kiir responded.

A predictable enough response, given that it represents what might and should have been anticipated. President Kiir stated from the outset, though Mr. Machar strenuously denied it at first that the rebel opposition of renegade forces were loyal to and under the command of his former deputy president. And they have indeed seized two states, one the capital of oil-rich Unity state.

Since South Sudan is dependent on its oil revenues, which represent close to 99% of the impoverished country's budget, this is a situation whose impact on the stability of the world's newest country could be catastrophic. Little wonder there is reciprocal bloodshed and attacks meant to overturn the gains of the renegades.

All non-critical staff members of the UN Mission in South Sudan in its capital Juba, are being evacuated to neighbouring Uganda, despite the defiant statement of the UN's envoy. The prospect of civil war cannot be entirely surprising in a country with a history of ethnic violence and divided loyalties within the military.

The military, divided between the two tribes, appears to have been the flint that sparked the current violence. As Western powers and the United Nations wring their hands in despair, as much over the incontrovertible fact that tribal viciousness continues to grip Africa into the 21st Century, as the upheavals that blacken and make bleak the future of the continent, what more could UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon say, other than urge the leaders of South Sudan "to do everything in their power" to put an end to the violence.

They might be convinced to do just that if they thought it would be in their self-interest.