Johannesburg - More than 54 international political parties are set to attend the 2023 BRICS Political Party Plus Dialogue under the theme “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Growth” to be hosted by South Africa before the Brics Summit next month.
This was announced by ANC (first) deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane, who addressed the media at the Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni yesterday.
Mokonyane said the dialogue set for next week would focus on key areas such as global peace and security, inclusive multilateralism, strengthening BRICS and expanding its membership, and partnerships for mutually accelerated growth and sustainable development.
Among the guests to arrive for the summit in Joburg, starting July 18 at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg, are Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Sam Nujoma of Namibia and Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast.
Mokonyane said the dialogue will invoke one of the pillars of the ANC, "Better Africa, Better World", and seek to forge alliances, party-to-party and intra-party, bilateral and multilateral relations, to deepen internationalism, solidarity, peace, and friendship.
"There has been quite a hive of activity in South Africa on the diplomatic front. On this front, the ANC subcommittee on International Relations hosted a number of political parties and foreign missions to forge collaborations and cooperation in various fields, she said.
Mokonyane said that in spite of reservations about the country’s non-aligned stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, the country remains steadfast in its approach to the war between the two countries. She said the recent NEC conference led to the decision to review its participation in the ICC.
This is as the ICC expects President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government to act against Russian President Vladimir Putin on alleged war crimes following a warrant of arrest issued by the ICC in March.
"We have come from the 55th ANC elective conference, and we have come to the resolution to remain in the ICC but to review our participation there. There are processes that are unfolding without undermining such bodies because, again, we must guard against the situation where we do not participate. Our issue is not about transforming those institutions, but making sure they are fair. They are consistent and impartial in how they deal with issues," she said.
On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa indicated that Putin will be coming to South Africa for the Brics Summit next month, following speculation that the summit would be moved to a neutral venue to avoid a possible dilemma.
"Historically, we have remained non-aligned not only because of any relationship that we hold with Russia today but also because of our own historical perspective around the issues of a unipolar world against nations and our own experience of exploitation and colonialism, as well as the arrogance of those who assume that if you say you are non-aligned it means we have taken sides," she said.
She said the ANC and the government are not taking sides in the matter, as reported by Western media and opposition political parties such as the Democratic Alliance (DA).
"We have not taken sides, and hence you can see through the actions of our government that all parties have been listened to and all parties have been given the same observations that we are making and what we believe can be a solution to what is happening in the world, and therefore we are not faced with being accused of being non-aligned as it is the correct decision made by the party and our government."
"We have a resolution to remain in the ICC but review our participation; there are processes that are unfolding there without undermining such bodies," Mokonyane added.
The Star