In August 2014, the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), Cape Town, South Africa, brought together about 30 key policymakers, academics, and civil society actors from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) to reflect critically on the first hosting cycle of six BRICS summits (June 2009–July 2014) and to develop concrete recommendations in support of South Africa’s continuing engagement with the BRICS bloc. The meeting focused on how to strengthen South Africa’s bilateral relations with Brazil, Russia, India and China and considered the benefits and challenges of BRICS membership for South Africa, including how to assist Tshwane (Pretoria) to advance a wider African peace-building
and development agenda within the bloc, as well as how to strengthen the bloc’s impact on global politics, particularly in relation to the reform of key multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the United Nations
(UN) Security Council, with the aim of making them more effective, democratic, and representative.
