South Africa should use its 2023 chairmanship of the BRICS group of nations to push for the admission of new members to the political and economic grouping of major emerging markets, the country\u2019s ruling party said.<\/p>\n
Expanding BRICS, which the African National Congress said accounts for a third of the world\u2019s gross domestic product, fits in with the party\u2019s push to strengthen alliances to counter the global dominance of developed nation economies such as the US. The proposal was included in a raft of as yet-to-be-adopted policies to be discussed at an ANC conference on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ANC and ANC-led government should support the expansion of BRICS by admitting additional members on the basis of formally agreed criteria, principles, and values,\u201d the party\u2019s commission on international relations said in the draft document seen by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
BRICS originally consisted of Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa admitted in 2010. China\u2019s economy is more than double the size of the rest of the group combined. Saudi Arabia has received Russia\u2019s backing to join.<\/p>\n
The policy document, which covers everything from geopolitics to education and how to combat rising crime levels, repeatedly bemoaned the decline of the so-called non-aligned movement and warned of the dangers of the \u201chegemonic developed countries in the global north.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also criticized members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for supplying arms to Ukraine for use against invader Russia, and said China was the target of an \u201cintensification of geopolitical tensions and trade wars\u201d by western nations.<\/p>\n
The draft document suggested that South Africa should strengthen relations with Cuba and Venezuela and called for the lifting of \u201cpunitive and cruel sanctions\u201d imposed against those countries as well as on Iran, Syria and Zimbabwe. It also proposed that a referendum be held to vote on the unification of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n