Brics Summit: Spotlight on South Africa’s global position

The 15th Brics Summit which starts today at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg could be the ultimate game-changer for global affairs.

This year’s Brics – made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – is billed to be the most significant in the group’s history and could impact on SA’s relationships with other countries and its position globally.

The summit has attracted more than 40 countries who seek to join the bloc and heightened debate on a “Brics Plus”, which would incorporate more nations.

In his address to the nation regarding the summit, President Cyril Ramaphosa touched on the importance of Brics to SA and noted being a member created positive opportunities for the country.

Political analyst Prof Ntsikelelo Breakfast said Ramaphosa’s speech on SA’s global position, as well as the Brics, was commendable.

“During the time of Nelson Mandela, the focus was the rebranding of the country as a democracy,” he said.

“But for the first time, we saw something that is unprecedented, which is good, whereby the president addresses the nation on matters of foreign policy. That is something that is commendable.

“There is an important connection between the international environment and the domestic environment. Foreign policy is how the state project with domestic values on the global scale. Now we begin to understand why we are hosting these countries and which countries we support.”

Ramaphosa said SA was committed to a policy of non-alignment.

“We have resisted pressure to align ourselves with any one of the global powers or with influential blocs of nations,” he said.

“During the Cold War, the stability and sovereignty of many African countries was undermined because of their alignment with the major powers. This experience has convinced us of the need to seek strategic partnerships with other countries, rather than be dominated by any other country.”

However, Breakfast said the non-alignment policy would catch up with SA at some point. He said it sounded contradictory that SA would also be hosting the European Union (EU) later this year.

“Because how do you pledge allegiance to this summit, but at the same time we also want to work with other people who feel threatened?

“There are about 22 countries on the list waiting to be accepted as members of Brics. How can we expect to be trusted by other allies but, at the same time, we are working with everyone?”

Speaking to Radio 702, Gustavo de Carvalho, the SA Institute of International Affairs (Saiia) senior researcher, said there was an idea now on where SA stood internationally.

He said there was a lot of talk and confirmation of some of the uncertainties the countries had had for a few months in terms of where SA’s position was and in relation to the expansion of Brics.

He said although Ramaphosa’s speech had no major announcements, it clarified and created some benchmarks that would allow SA to better assess its performance internationally.

“We were in a situation where global politics was becoming increasingly divided. So I thought it was an important moment, particularly for highlighting issues related to the importance of the African continent, particularly the African continental free trade area,” he said.

Ramaphosa also explained the key national foreign policy principles and beliefs and stated foreign policy was a matter vital to the progress of the nation.

Through stronger relations with other countries, manifested through investment and trade relations, SA’s economy could grow, create more opportunities for new businesses and create jobs.

More than 30 African heads of state and the United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres will attend the summit.

They include Saudi Arabia, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act summit will take place in SA along with the EU summit later this year.

In 2025, SA is expected to assume the presidency of the G20 group of nations.