JUSTIFYING SOUTH AFRICA’S INCLUSION AND MEMBERSHIP IN THE BRICS FAMILY OF NATIONS

Abstract

BRIC as the group was originally known before the inclusion of South Africa was formed as an alternative to the G20 and G8 groups which were viewed by these countries Brazil, Russia, India and China as being dominated by western powers. The term BRIC was actually coined by a Goldman Sachs analyst who had been working on a research paper dealing with these four countries. This paper attempts to deal with answering the question whether it was justified that South Africa was included as a member of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) family of nations given that it is much smaller than its partners within the BRICS family and, a recent entry into independent Africa. The paper is not all encompassing but makes certain salient observations. By the same token it does not pretend to capture every salient nuance of this debate. It however does clarify some vexing issues as concerns South Africa’s acceptance as a member of the BRICS family of nations. Key Words: Membership, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), Reforms, Macroeconomic, Economic Growth, Balance of Payments, Employment, Emerging Markets, Price Stability, Inflation, Industry