Africa remains centre of SA foreign policy - Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated that Africa remains at the centre of South Africa's foreign policy.
Ramaphosa addressed the nation on Sunday evening ahead of the 15th BRICS Summit set to be held in Sandton from Tuesday to Thursday.
South Africa is hosting the summit for the first time since 2018.
China's President Xi Jinping, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are expected in South Africa for the annual three-day summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to join remotely due to the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him.
Ramaphosa said the summit comes at a critical moment for the international community, as it faces various fundamental challenges.
He warned that the world has become increasingly complex and fractured as it is increasingly polarised into competing camps.
"Multilateralism is being replaced by the actions of different power blocs, all of which we trade with, invest with, and whose technology we use,” Ramaphosa said.
“It is for this reason that South Africa continues to advocate for an open and rules-based global governance, trade, financial, and investment system. It must be a system that does not depend on the exercise of power or unilateralism but on the advancement of the interests of the peoples of the world.
It is in this rules base system that we seek to advance African prosperity and industrialisation. We seek to change the rules to be fairer but ultimately we want to promote an open system of economic and political relations.”
Ramaphosa said amid all these challenges, Africa remains at the centre of South Africa's foreign policy.
"We are firmly committed to strengthening the African Union so that it increases its capacity to support the achievement of greater integration on the continent.
“We are working towards the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which is set to eliminate trade barriers, boost intra-African trade and achieve prosperity for all of Africa.
“It will also accelerate manufacturing and industrial capacity on our continent. The vibrant trading Africa we seek to build depends on Africa being stable and peaceful.
“For Africa to thrive, we must silence the guns."
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