World
Mandela’s Heirs Lose Power in South Africa
By Alexander Braterskiy
South African authorities warn that if the opposition wins the parliamentary elections, the country may change course and leave the informal BRICS economic bloc, which includes Russia. The position of the African National Congress party, which has been in power since the collapse of apartheid, is indeed not the best, as shown by the municipal elections held earlier in the country. The opposition accuses the president of corruption and abuse of power, as well as an inability to cope with the country’s energy crisis. The ANC crisis occurred on the 30th anniversary of the first free elections in South Africa.
South African Ambassador to Russia Mzuvukile Jeff Maketuka believes that if the opposition wins the parliamentary elections this year, the country may leave the BRICS association. “If the official opposition wins the election, there will be a change in South Africa’s foreign policy position. There is a high probability that if this happens, South Africa will be withdrawn from BRICS,” the ambassador said in a recent interview with TASS.
Considering that the ambassador does not express his point of view, but expresses the position of the state, these words can be taken quite seriously. The ambassador even cited the example of Argentina, which, after the victory of populist Javier Millay in the elections, refused to join BRICS. However, if Argentina was just about to become a member of an informal but influential organization, then South Africa is a country that can be called one of the “founding fathers” of BRICS.
Elections in South Africa, which will be held at the end of May, could become a turning point for the country due to the possible loss of power of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party. “The African National Congress, of course, played its rightful role during apartheid and secured the political independence of South Africa. Thereafter, it continued to play a huge role after independence in nation-building and economic development. But from the days of Jacob Zuma to Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC became deeply corrupt, signing opaque deals with outside players. There are serious doubts about the integrity of the ANC. This is opportunism at its worst, not the human rights they fight for. In essence, the ANC’s policy is focused on the global trend – business deals for money,” African publicist Kester Kenn Klomegah tells Finam.ru.
It is symbolic that, simultaneously with the elections, the country will mark 30 years since the collapse of the apartheid system, a rigid authoritarian system of rule by the white minority. The long-standing policy was associated with a system of racial discrimination in which members of the African population were considered second-class citizens.
“The Pretoria regime guards the interests of imperialism in Africa” – this phrase from the Soviet magazine “International Affairs” in 1985 is familiar to almost everyone who grew up in the USSR. At the same time, it must be said that in terms of attitude towards apartheid, the USSR was on the right side of history, unlike many Western countries that sold weapons to this country despite international sanctions. The USSR also actively contributed to the establishment of democracy in South Africa. The former head of TASS, Vitaly Ignatenko, recalls how he handed over a letter from South African President Frederik de Klerk to the head of the Soviet Foreign Ministry, Eduard Shevardnadze. The country’s authorities were looking for opportunities to establish relations with the USSR on the wave of democratization.
The head of the then-white minority regime, de Klerk, began “democratization from above” in the country. He was released from prison by the main enemy of the regime, Nelson Mandela, who had spent more than 26 years in prison. Mandela’s release marked the beginning of the end of apartheid: in 1994, the country held its first free elections, in which the ANC won a majority. The former opponents came to reconciliation through a special commission, at which members of the former regime asked for forgiveness from the victims. In 1994, Mandela was elected president of the country, leaving office in 1999.
Breach of contract
However, the euphoria of the first years of democratization and economic growth has passed. As economist Timothy Taylor writes on his Conversable Economist blog, the 1994 changes “created few winners.” “In this view, South Africa’s democracy was built on the simple assumption that a growing black elite and middle class could compromise with anyone, provided that each generation of black South Africans did better than the last,” the author writes.
All this continued for the first 15 years, and although “inequality remained enormous, the bottom quarter of the population was able to rise through the expansion of the welfare state. However, after the global crisis of 2008, the era of state capture under former President Jacob Zuma and COVID, this “founding treaty” was broken.”
According to the IMF, South Africa’s economy grew by 0.4% in 2023. The fund’s economists also note that one of the country’s main problems is the increased level of public debt, one of the highest among developing countries. As IMF experts write, it “limits the government’s ability to respond to shocks and meet growing social and development needs. Stabilizing the country’s debt and making room in the budget for targeted social spending and public investment will require cuts to the government’s wage bill and transfers to state-owned enterprises.”
The situation is also reflected in the purchasing power of South Africans. 44% of consumers spent less during the holiday season than the previous year, largely due to lower income, and only 30% spent more than they did in 2022, according to a Citibank survey.
Return to the same problems
The ANC party, which came to power after the fall of apartheid, still has a majority in parliament, but 30 years later its position is not the best. “The 2024 elections in South Africa may become a turning point in its history,” note the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and remind that according to the results of municipal elections in 2021, the number of votes cast for the party decreased to 45.6%.
According to an October 2023 poll by the Social Research Foundation (SRF), only 45% of voters would vote for the ANC if elections were held tomorrow, down from 52% in March.
The sympathies of many South African voters are on the side of the opposition Democratic Alliance party, which takes liberal positions in contrast to the left-wing ANC. Its leader is white, South African citizen John Steenhuisen, but black politicians also occupy high positions in the party. The party is critical of Russia’s Northern Military District in Ukraine. During the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the summer of 2023, the party appealed to the South African court demanding the execution of the decision of the International Criminal Court. Earlier, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin and the Ombudsman for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova because they were allegedly involved in the illegal removal of Ukrainian children. As the South African Ambassador to Russia, Maketuka, noted in an interview with TASS, “the main opposition party is not a friend of Russia.”
Citizens of South Africa, 30 years later, are concerned about the same problems as before: inequality, poverty, unemployment, which has grown significantly among young Africans. According to government data cited by the Associated Press, unemployment covers more than 33% of the country’s residents. Among young people, the unemployment rate is 61%. Because of the current situation, many of the older generations even yearn for the times of apartheid, when they lived, albeit in fear, but with a roof over their heads.
However, there are still improvements in South Africa, writes Bloomberg, noting a drop in the unemployment rate to the lowest level since 2021. However, economists warn that this effect could fade as electricity supply problems worsen.
“Power outages, volatile commodity prices and challenging external conditions have contributed to the country’s weak economic growth performance,” the IMF report said.
The problem with the shortage of electricity in the country has been around for a long time – many substations have fallen into disrepair, they are more than 50 years old, and the available generating capacity is declining. The national energy company is forced to limit the supply of electricity to avoid a collapse. The country’s central bank says power woes cost the economy $13 billion in 2023 alone. Significant investments are needed to improve the situation.
Hope is pinned on China, which is actively represented in such sectors of the country’s economy as mining, telecommunications, and electronics manufacturing. According to government data, the total level of Chinese investment in the South African economy amounted to 200 billion rand, more than $10 billion.
The potential of South Africa also promises opportunities for Russian business, but so far there are few large Russian projects in this country. However, South Africa sees opportunities to strengthen cooperation with Russia against the backdrop of weakening ties between Moscow and the “collective West.” Moreover, among South Africa’s largest trading partners, besides China, are countries such as the USA, Germany, and the UK. A multi-vector policy for developing economic ties with the whole world, and albeit sometimes creakingly, but working democratic institutions, is also a legacy of the victory over apartheid and a reflection of Mandela’s words, which, however, were only partially realized. “Throughout my life, I have devoted myself entirely to the struggle for the African population. I fought against both white supremacy and black supremacy. I revered the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all citizens live in harmony and have equal opportunity.”
This article first appeared in Finam media and was reposted with the author’s permission.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Despite geopolitical complexities, tensions and pressure, Russia’s military arms and weaponry sales earned approximately $15 billion at the closure of 2025, according to Kremlin report. At the regular session, chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Jan. 30, the Commission on Military and Technical Cooperation with Foreign Countries analyzed the results of its work for 2025, and defined plans for the future.
It was noted that the system of military-technical cooperation continued to operate in difficult conditions, and with increased pressure from the Western countries to block business relations with Russia. The meeting, however, admitted that export contracts have generally performed sustainably. Russian military products were exported to more than 30 countries last year, and the amount of foreign exchange exceeded $15 billion.
Such results provide an additional opportunity to direct funds to the modernization of OPC enterprises, to the expansion of their production capacities, and to advanced research. It is also important that at these enterprises a significant volume of products is civilian products.
The Russian system of military-technical cooperation has not only demonstrated effectiveness and high resilience, but has created fundamental structures, which allow to significantly expand the “geography” of supplies of products of military purpose and, thus strengthen the position of Russia’s leader and employer advanced weapons systems – proven, tested in real combat conditions.
Thanks to the employees of the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation and Rosoboronexport, the staff of OPC enterprises for their good faith. Within the framework of the new federal project “Development of military-technical cooperation of Russia with foreign countries” for the period 2026-2028, additional measures of support are introduced. Further effective use of existing financial and other support mechanisms and instruments is extremely important because the volumes of military exports in accordance with the 2026 plan.
Special attention would be paid to the expansion of military-technological cooperation and partnerships, with 14 states already implementing or in development more than 340 such projects.
Future plans will allow to improve the characteristics of existing weapons and equipment and to develop new promising models, including those in demand on global markets, among other issues – the development of strategic areas of military-technical cooperation, and above all, with partners on the CIS and the CSTO. This is one of the priority tasks to strengthen both bilateral and multilateral relations, ensuring stability and security in Eurasia.
From January 2026, Russia chairs the CSTO, and this requires working systematically with partners, including comprehensive approaches to expanding military-technical relations. New prospects open up for deepening military-technical cooperation and with countries in other regions, including with states on the African continent. Russia has been historically strong and trusting relationships with African countries. In different years even the USSR, and then Russia supplied African countries with a significant amount of weapons and military equipment, trained specialists on their production, operation, repair, as well as military personnel.
Today, despite pressure from the West, African partners express readiness to expand relations with Russia in the military and military-technical fields. It is not only about increasing supplies of Russian military exports, but also about the purchase of other weapons, other materials and products. Russia has undertaken comprehensive maintenance of previously delivered equipment, organization of licensed production of Russian military products and some other important issues. In general, African countries are sufficient for consideration today.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Donald Trump has named Mr Kevin Warsh as the successor to Mr Jerome Powell as the Federal Reserve chair, ending a prolonged odyssey that has seen unprecedented turmoil around the central bank.
The decision culminates a process that officially began last summer but started much earlier than that, with President Trump launching a criticism against the Powell-led US central bank almost since he took the job in 2018.
“I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the selection.
US analysts noted that the 55-year old appear not to ripple market because of his previous experience at the apex bank as Governor, with others saying he wouldn’t always do the bidding of the American president.
If approved by the US Senate, Mr Warsh will take over the position in May, when Mr Powell’s term expires.
Despite having argued for reductions recently, “Warsh has a long hawkish history that markets have not forgotten,” one analyst told Bloomberg.
President Trump has castigated Mr Powell for not lowering interest rates more quickly. His administration also launched a criminal investigation of Powell and the Federal Reserve earlier this month, which led Mr Powell to issue an extraordinary rebuke of President Trump’s efforts to politicize the independent central bank.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Donald Trump has been leading the United States as its president since January 2025. Washington’s priority is to Make America Great Again (MAGA). Trump’s tariffs have rippled many economies from Latin America through Asian region to the continent of Africa. Trump’s Davos speech has explicitly revealed building a ‘new world order’ based on dominance rather than trust. He has also initiated whirlwind steps to annex Greenland, while further created the Board of Peace, aimed at helping end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and to oversee reconstruction. Trump is handling the three-year old Russia-Ukraine crisis, and other deep-seated religious and ethnic conflicts in Africa.
These emerging trends, at least in a considerable short term, are influencing BRICS which has increased its geopolitical importance, and focusing on uniting the countries in the Global East and Global South. From historical records, BRICS, described as non-western organization, and is loosing its coherence primarily due to differences in geopolitical interests and multinational alignments, and of course, a number of members face threats from the United States while there are variations of approach to the emerging worldwide perceptions.
In this conversation, deputy director of the Center for African Studies at Moscow’s National Research University High School of Economics (HSE), Vsevolod Sviridov, expresses his opinions focusing on BRICS agenda under India’s presidency, South Africa’s G20 chairmanship in 2024, and genegrally putting Africa’s development priorities within the context of emerging trends. Here are the interview excerpts:
What is the likely impact of Washington’s geopolitics and its foreign policy on BRICS?
From my perspective, the current Venezuela-U.S. confrontation, especially Washington’s tightened leverage over Venezuelan oil revenue flows and the knock-on effects for Chinese interests, will be read inside BRICS as a reminder that sovereign resources can still be constrained by financial chokepoints and sanctions politics. This does not automatically translate into BRICS taking Venezuela’s side, but it does strengthen the bloc’s long-running argument for more resilient South-South trade settlement, diversified energy chains, and financing instruments that reduce exposure to coercive measures, because many African and other developing economies face similar vulnerabilities around commodities, shipping, insurance, and correspondent banking. At the same time, BRICS’ expansion makes consensus harder: several members maintain significant ties with the U.S., so the most likely impact is a technocratic push rather than a loud political campaign.
And highlighting, specifically, the position of BRICS members (South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt, as well as its partnering African States (Nigeria and Uganda)?
Venezuela crisis urges African members to demand that BRICS deliver usable financial and trade tools. For South Africa, Ethiopia, and Egypt, the Venezuela case is more about the precedent: how quickly external pressure can reshape a country’s fiscal room, debt dynamics, and even investor perceptions when energy revenues and sanctions compliance collide. South Africa will likely argue that BRICS should prioritize investment, industrialization, and trade facilitation. Ethiopia and Egypt, both debt-sensitive and searching for FDI, will be especially attentive to anything that helps de-risk financing, while avoiding steps that could trigger secondary-sanctions anxieties or scare off diversified investors.
Would the latest geopolitical developments ultimately shape the agenda for BRICS 2026 under India’s presidency?
India’s 2026 chairmanship is already framed around “Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” and Venezuela’s shock (paired with broader sanction/market-volatility lessons) will likely sharpen the resilience part. From an African perspective, that is an opportunity: South Africa, Ethiopia, and Egypt can press India to translate the theme into deliverables that matter on the ground: food and fertilizer stability, affordable energy access, infrastructure funding. India, in turn, has incentives to keep BRICS focused on economic problem-solving rather than becoming hostage to any single flashpoint. So the Venezuela episode may function as a cautionary case study that accelerates practical cooperation where African members have the most to gain. And I would add: the BRICS agenda will become increasingly Africa-centered simply because Africa’s weight globally is rising, and recent summit discussions have repeatedly highlighted African participation as a core Global South vector. South Africa’s G20 chairmanship last year explicitly framed around putting Africa’s development priorities high on the agenda, further proves this point.
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