South Africa is honoured to take over the Chairmanship of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa, says Public Service and Administration Deputy Minister, Dr Chana Pilane-Majake.
“Our focus is to build a partnership between BRICS and Africa to unlock mutually beneficial opportunities for increased trade, investment and infrastructure,” she said.
The Deputy Minister said Africa, through the African Union (AU), has engineered and approved the African Union’s Agenda 2063, with the intention of building strong institutions to enhance cross-border economic development and good governance.
Pilane-Majake said this when she addressed the BRICS Conference on Governance and Public Administration Reform at the University of Pretoria. The event was held as a build-up towards the BRICS Summit which will be held in August in South Africa.
The government of South Africa, she said, was certain that the BRICS partnership had the ability to support South Africa and the African continent at large on the journey towards economic recovery.
“This will contribute to making Africa’s economy globally competitive, reduce the cost of doing business, attract investments, and stimulate economic growth, thus alleviating poverty and unemployment,” she said.
Pilane-Majake said without capable public institutions, there is a risk of collapse of governments and other sectors of society.
“Building capable institutions requires an investment in building human capabilities to be diligent, masterful and innovative,” she said.
The National School of Government in South Africa remains a key institution to drive the developmental state agenda of building state capacity. This year marks 10 years since the establishment of the National School of Government.
Source: South African Government News Agency