Turning declarations into deliverables: South Africa's BRICS 2025 Challenge

By Ayanda Holo

Beneath the glittering chandeliers of the Bank of China building in Johannesburg, Chinese Ambassador Wu Peng addressed a gathering of investors, policymakers, and technocrats.

At his side sat South Africa's Deputy Finance Minister Dr David Masondo, a key architect of the government's economic recovery and structural reform agenda.

The occasion marked the release of the Chinese Investor Survey, a moment that revealed not only the depth of Sino-South African relations but also the lingering bottlenecks that continue to hinder what could be a transformative partnership.

Ambassador Wu's tone was both celebratory and cautionary. Over 200 Chinese enterprises have injected more than $11 billion into South Africa, creating jobs, taxes, and valuable industrialisation footprints.

Yet, despite this progress, the Ambassador pointedly highlighted recurring frustrations: the slow and sometimes opaque processing of work visas for essential engineers and managers and the heightened security threats to Chinese nationals. These issues, he suggested, could jeopardise investor confidence unless addressed with urgency and sincerity.

 At the heart of his speech was a subtle but potent reference to Declaration 42 of the BRICS 2025 Strategy, which states:

"We welcome the results of the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2025… and look forward to the conclusion and implementation of the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2030, which will… guide cooperation on issues relating to the Multilateral Trading System, Digital Economy, International Trade, Financial Cooperation and Sustainable Development." This strategy is not just a document, but a roadmap to our future.

This forward-looking blueprint aims to deepen the ties that bind BRICS nations, with South Africa poised to benefit as a regional gateway for Asia–Africa trade. But such ambitions rest precariously on domestic execution.

The Visa Conundrum: When Policy Fails Practice

A compelling case in point emerged from a significant $200 million investment project in the Eastern Cape, a region with great potential for economic growth. The project procured high-grade industrial equipment from Yangzhou Metal Forming Machine Tool Co. The firm dispatched three highly skilled engineers to oversee installation and training. Despite submitting complete documentation to VFS Global, including verified invitation letters from their South African host, the engineers were denied work visas for several months.

This delay was not only an administrative embarrassment but also a tangible blow to investor confidence. The engineers were essential to commissioning a production line that was central to the project's ROI timeline. The months-long delay undermined the "open the way" vision of Operation Vulindlela, a flagship reform programme by the South African Presidency and Treasury designed to reduce red tape for investors.

Is Operation Vulindlela truly living up to its name?

According to a recent SA Government News release dated March 2025, the Department of Home Affairs has introduced improvements to fast-track visa applications for investors and critical skills workers. A new "Trusted Employer Scheme" was also piloted with large multinationals and BRICS-partner firms in mind. Yet the Eastern Cape incident underscores a gap between policy and implementation, a chasm where projects stall, costs rise, and goodwill wanes.

From Zero-Tariffs to Zero-Tolerance on Inefficiency

China's recent announcement to provide zero-tariff treatment to 53 African countries via the Framework Agreement on Economic Partnership for Shared Development is a tectonic shift in global trade patterns. It gives African manufacturers and agricultural producers unprecedented access to the world's second-largest economy. And South Africa, with its mature logistics, industrial base, and financial institutions, is uniquely positioned to lead this integration.

But it must not allow procedural inertia to squander strategic advantages.

This is particularly critical in sectors like automotive components, green energy infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing, where Chinese investment has surged. Each of these sectors requires the temporary importation of technical personnel, often on tight deadlines to transfer knowledge and integrate systems.

Ambassador Wu's call for smoother visa processes is therefore not a favour to China, but a necessary step if South Africa is serious about its BRICS role. It's not just about accommodating Chinese investors, but about creating an environment where all BRICS nations can thrive, boosting South Africa's economy and global influence.

A Catalogue of Cooperation

It is worth reminding readers of the many bilateral and multilateral agreements that underpin this evolving relationship. These include:

The China-South Africa Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement (2010).The FOCAC Beijing Action Plan 2019–2025

The Belt and Road MOU, signed in 2015, focuses on infrastructure connectivity.Bilateral Investment Treaties and Double Taxation Agreements, protecting investor rights

The Annual SA-China High-Level People-to-People Exchange Mechanism, encouraging cultural, academic, and tech innovation links.

Each of these frameworks, including the 2025 BRICS Economic Strategy, calls for the removal of administrative and logistical barriers that impede the flow of capital, of people, of ideas.

What Must Change?

If Pretoria is to maintain credibility within BRICS and its reform agenda, several actions are urgent: Mandate real-time escalation channels for work visa cases tied to investment projects over R50 million.Expand and enforce the Trusted Employer Scheme beyond pilot status.

Include a BRICS Investor Fast Lane under the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC).Publish quarterly Operation Vulindlela scorecards, with measurable impact on investor facilitation.

 As Ambassador Wu concluded, "Challenges are part of development." But challenges left unaddressed become liabilities. For South Africa, the BRICS 2030 horizon offers not just hope, but a promising future. Whether that promise becomes reality depends not on declarations from abroad, but on decisions made at home.

* Ayanda Holo is the President of TV BRICS AFRICA

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.