The troops, aligned with First Vice President Riek Machar’s Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition party, defected at a ceremony in the capital Juba.
“There is no need for two armies or two Commanders-in-Chief.”
The transfer took place as African Union mediators were flying into the country for talks aimed at averting a return to civil war.
President Salva Kiir placed his longtime rival Machar under house arrest last week.
That in effect voided a 2018 peace deal that brought the two wartime rivals into a fragile power-sharing government.
Kiir’s government has accused Machar of trying to stir up a new rebellion.
His detention follows weeks of fighting in the northern Upper Nile state between the military and a militia known as the White Army.
Machar’s forces were allied with the White Army during the civil war, in which hundreds of thousands were killed, but they deny any current links.
Daniel Akech, a senior analyst for International Crisis Group, suggests bringing Kiir and Machar together in government has never really worked.
“So, it’s maybe the South Sudanese could start thinking of what a post-Kiir and post-Machar South Sudan should look like.”
Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga arrived in Juba on behalf of an East African regional bloc on Monday to mediate between the rival camps.
He met with Kiir but said he was not allowed to see Machar.
Analysts say Kiir appears to be attempting to shore up his position amid discontent within his own political camp.
They add that war in neighboring Sudan has worsened security conditions by leading to an influx of weapons.
--SABC--
