President Cyril Ramaphosa endorsed the expansion of BRICS and continued partnership between members of the forum ahead of this week's summit in Sandton. He also indicated that South Africa would continue fostering its ties with Western powers as he announced a European Union-South Africa summit scheduled for later this year.

South Africa is one of the BRICS member states that have supported the move to expand the multilateral forum, with more than 20 nations vying to join the bloc.

Addressing the nation on Sunday evening, ahead of the BRICS Summit due to take place between Tuesday and Thursday at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa reiterated South Africa's stance. He added that an expanded BRICS would represent a diverse group of nations with different political systems that share a common desire to have a more balanced global order.

"South Africa supports the expansion of the membership of BRICS. The value of BRICS extends beyond the interests of its current members. For its efforts to be more effective, BRICS needs to build partnerships with other countries that share its aspirations and perspectives.

"In addition to the other African leaders in attendance, we will also be welcoming leaders from several countries of the Global South. These include countries from the Caribbean and South America, from the Middle East, from west Asia, south Asia and southeast Asia," he said.

Other BRICS nations that have encouraged the expansion include China and Russia, while India and Brazil have been sceptical about it....