South African Foreign Minister Maledi Pandor announced at a press conference August 7 that the foreign ministers and their colleagues from the five BRICS member nations are firming up recommendations which will be forwarded to the heads of state of the BRICS nations, on some of the critical questions that will be discussed at the Aug. 22-24 BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. With respect to expansion of the BRICS—officially 23 nations have applied for BRICS membership—Pandor reported that criteria for BRICS membership were being planned, and, according to the Aug. 7 Daily Maverick, a South African publication, after an August 12 meeting of the BRICS nations’ foreign ministers, this draft would be forward to the BRICS heads of state.
Another major issue is that of developing a non-dollar common currency for use in trade. This could allow advancing credit instruments for projects such as expanding the New Development Bank. However, even more powerful institutions, modeled on the principle of Lyndon LaRouche’s International Development Bank, proposed in 1975, will likely be needed.
At her August 7 press conference, Pandor proposed what, it appears, she considers the third overarching issue of the conference: the development of Africa. The minister said that under the summit’s official theme, “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism,” the BRICS leaders would discuss how to realize the potential of BRICS for “inclusive global economy recovery and sustainable development, strengthening mutually beneficial partnerships with Africa and the Global South in a multipolar world.”
In the conjuncture of the disintegration of the irredeemably bankrupt, speculative trans-Atlantic financial system, this creates the basis for a “tectonic shift,” to a development-based system.
South African Foreign Minister Pandor announced that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has apparently accepted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s invitation to attend the BRICS summit. At the same time, the August 8 Tasmin News reported that Iran is currently hosting in Teheran a conference dubbed,” Iran and BRICS, Prospect for Cooperation.” The same day, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced that he plans to attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Johannesburg.
Pandor disclosed that 67 other leaders from all of Africa, and other sections of the Global South had been invited to attend and meet the BRICS leaders in an outreach session. She said that 34 had accepted thus far.
In addition, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an official state visit to South Africa, which will start August 22, the same day the BRICS summit commences, and extend beyond that (see accompanying slug).
French President Emmanuel Macron will not be in attendance. The Aug. 7 Agence France Presse reported that, “Pandor laughed off the possibility of Emmanuel Macron showing up, after the French President made it known he was interested in participating. ‘It’s quite amusing,’ Pandor said when asked whether the French leader would attend. ‘No invitation has been issued in this regard.’”
