NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO: 541 (NW588E)
Mr LS Ngonyama (Cope) to ask the Minister of International Relations and
Cooperation:
Whether her department has any strategy to ensure that South Africa is an
effective participant in BRICSA; if not, why not; if so, (a) what strategy
and (b) how does this plan fit (i) into South Africaâs global strategy and
(ii) in with the top national priorities in South Africa?
REPLY
1) (a) I have clarified South Africaâs strategy for BRICS in terms of how
it fits into South Africaâs global strategy and within the national
priorities of South Africa through various policy addresses and media
statements. I would like to quote from the media statement issued on
24 December 2010 on South Africaâs full membership of BRICS, as well
as highlight some pertinent issues in relation to our approach;
Quote
The rationale for South Africaâs approach was in consideration of a
matter of crucial importance to BRICS member States, namely the role
of emerging economies in advancing the restructuring of the global
political, economic and financial architecture into one that is more
equitable, balanced and rests on the important pillar of
multilateralism. Our approach to intensifying our relations with
emerging powers and other countries of the South is, of course,
through active and strong bilateral engagement. In addition, however,
we also see the NAM and the G77 as important for South-South
interaction, especially within the framework of the United Nations.
At another level, we see the formation of the IBSA and our membership
of that body as a mechanism not only for enhancing our trilateral
partnership with India and Brazil, but also as an important pillar for
strengthening the muscle of the South in global affairs. We believe
that the IBSA will get a better balance, and become even stronger,
with South Africa now as a member of the BRICS. We remain convinced
that South Africaâs diversified foreign policy objectives and
interests allow for both groupings (IBSA and BRICS) to co-exist. It
is our belief that the mandates of BRICS and IBSA are highly
complementary.
South Africa and BRICS Member States already collaborated and will
continue to collaborate closely in various international organisations
and formations such as the United Nations, the G20 and the IBSA
Dialogue Forum. All BRICS countries will serve on the UNSC in 2011 as
permanent (China, Russian Federation) or non-permanent members
(Brazil, India and South Africa), which augurs positively for enhanced
cooperation efforts in terms of the salient issues of common interest
as quoted above.
Unquote
1) (a) and (b) As indicated in the Departmentâs Strategic Plan 2010-2013,
the end of the 21st century has witnessed the emergence of major
powers in the South, with formidable alliances being formed and other
revitalised. This sea-change in the geo-politics of the day provides
the necessary space for us South Africans to invest our resources in
strengthening South-South cooperation in the context of relevant
organisations as cited, e.g. IBSA. Evidently, strengthening South-
South cooperation is one of our overarching departmental priorities.
While we had not cited BRIC directly, because South Africa was not a
Member State at that stage, it had been included in our work
programmes to strengthen synergy between IBSA and BRICS based on first
interaction that had already taken place in 2010 when a first BRIC-
IBSA Business Forum took place on the margins of the 4th IBSA Summit
and 2nd BRIC Summit. These were hosted back-to-back by former
Brazilian President, Mr Lula da Silva and President Zuma attended a
joint dinner for BRIC and IBSA Heads of State/Government. We further
had a strategy to obtain BRIC membership as was spearheaded by the
President in the course of 2010 and which announcement I then made on
24 December 2010.
There are various complimentary advantages in being a Member State
of BRICS from a political and economic agenda, notably the
underpinning philosophy of inclusive growth. We will attend our
first Summit in April 2011 and the draft agenda is already
indicative of addressing those issues that we prioritise in respect
of our foreign policy engagements and also in respect of our
domestic priorities. For example, the comparative advantages of
certain BRICS Member States can be utilised for South Africaâs
development such as Brazilâs focus on Agriculture, Indiaâs skills
development and ICT and services, China on possible mineral
beneficiation and value addition and the Russian Federationâs
strength in science and technology including space science. BRICS
can also be linked to South Africaâs own domestic strategies,
particularly the NGP and IPAP2 as well as increased cooperation
with IDC and DBSA. A further area for strategic cooperation in
BRICS is that of science and technology innovation, notably
transfer. South Africa and Africa could benefit from initiatives
by BRICS governments to develop their own home-grown green economic
technologies. BRICS membership will also be used to enhance core
factors for economic growth such as ensuring macro-economic
stability, building institutional capacity and strengthening the
educational system.