Durban - The absence of youth participation at the main table of the BRICS summit was detrimental to members of the bloc, especially the smallest member, South Africa, delegates were told at the organisation’s youth summit in Durban yesterday.
The summit, hosted by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), is one of the events taking place in the build-up to next month’s 15th BRICS summit that will see the heads of state of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa gather in Gauteng.
Delivering the keynote address, Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, said young people from the BRICS countries had a duty to share their knowledge on innovation and play their part in transforming the world.
“As BRICS youth leaders, you have the responsibility to separate facts about BRICS from the dominant eurocentric narratives of the world,” she said.
“You need to invest in an accurate version of your past in order to take the wheel and steer this BRICS train of freedom towards its logical and intended destination.”
She said the history of BRICS was fundamentally a history of resistance against colonial conquest and imperial abuse.
“From Beijing to Delhi, from Brasilia to Saint Petersburg, a culture of resistance and the quest for self-determination is what brings us together. BRICS is not an accidental alliance.”
Dlamini Zuma said young people from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa must bear in mind the enormous responsibility of a collective search for an alternative, equitable and more humane society.
Professor Anil Sooklal, Ambassador-at-Large for Asia and BRICS and South Africa’s BRICS Sherpa, said the youth’s role in BRICS was not where it should be.
“The BRICS youth council has not yet been formalised, and that’s why it sits on the sidelines. Imagine this world if there was no BRICS today … the world has transformed but we are still guided by a world order that was created after World War II,” said Sooklal, adding that the youth needed to demand space around the main decision-making table.
He said the idea of a BRICS youth council was first mooted in 2012, but it still had not been established.
“We are hopeful that during our chairship, the BRICS council will be launched.”
Sooklal said Dlamini Zuma had written to Department of International Relations and Co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor to request youth participation at next month’s summit with the heads of state.
Asanda Luwaca, the executive chairperson of the NYDA, said the country had a unique opportunity to harness the potential of this alliance for the benefit of the youth of South Africa and all those across the BRICS nations.
“As South Africa, and the NYDA, we are of the firm view that there should be a BRICS National Youth Council, which will ensure we have better integration and co-operation among the BRICS youth.”