“South Africa’s foreign policy has developed since the country’s transition
to democracy in 1994. The South African government used to emphasise
multilateralism as an important component in its international relations,
keen to make itself heard on critical global issues. Today, the three main
pillars of its foreign economic strategies are multilateral trade negotiations,
the Group of Twenty (G-20) and the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
Africa (BRICS) forum. Given its relatively small economy, and wishing to use
the forum as a platform for South–South solidarity, it is possible that South
Africa will rely more closely on BRICS than on the G-20. South Africa needs to
develop closer alignment between its foreign-policy and domestic economic
strategies.”
