This perspective piece argues that the persistent fragility of South Sudan's peace process is fundamentally rooted in a political economy of conflict, where elite bargains supersede public interest. Moving beyond a technical assessment of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), the analysis foregrounds how the logic of resource capture, militarised patronage networks, and subnational violence undermines institutional reform. It contends that the prevailing international peacebuilding paradigm, with its emphasis on top-down power-sharing, inadvertently entrenches a system of competitive kleptocracy. The article concludes by exploring the implications for a recalibrated approach that prioritises civic agency and economic justice as prerequisites for sustainable peace.