A South African government official said his government might approve the appointment of Major General Shavendra Silva as the next Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner to South Africa, the IoL news agency reported.

“South African Government’s Department of International Relations spokesmanClaysonMonyela,said the appointment would go ahead, saying it was only in exceptional circumstances that a country rejected another’s choice of a diplomat. He noted that Silva had not been convicted of any war crime,” the news agency said.

The Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner,ShehanRantavale, confirmed that General Shavendra Silva’s appointment to Pretoria was “in the pipeline”.
He said the appointment was “not 100 percent confirmed,” as the SA government still had to approve it.

Silva commanded the Sri Lankan Army’s 58th division, which was one of the key divisions fighting during the final stages of the civil war against the LTTE “Tamil Tigers”.