Relationship between SA and China still has exploitative undertones

There have been plenty of optimistic statements about why the Brics grouping can benefit South Africa. But some doubts remain.

Although the smallest economy in the group, South Africa has been able to bask in the warmth of the fact that Brics has been growing in strength, not only in financial terms, but also in global diplomatic influence and muscle.

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It may have been dismissed a decade ago by the West – to which it poses the greatest economic and even existential threat – but today, led by the growth explosion in China, Brics is a major world player.

South Africa also gains access to more markets and to finance options through Brics institutions, so the apparent benefit is there, in rands and cents.

However, looking beneath the surface, the relationship between us and China, particularly, still has exploitative undertones.

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In 2022, South Africa sold exports valued at $17.6 billion or about R333 billion to Brics markets, and it bought imports valued at $32.5 billion from Brics countries, generating a trade deficit of $14.9 billion.

The trade deficit that South Africa recorded last year is more than four times larger than the deficit of $3.7 billion recorded in 2010 when it joined Brics. That’s not progress, that’s servitude.

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