"These gatherings are critical in redefining the collective future of the developing nations at a time when the world is constantly threatened by a possible collapse of established economies," African National Congress spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said in a statement on Monday.
He said the summit's outcome and the scheduled meeting between the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) leaders and certain African heads of state would be instructive on the consolidation of trade within Brics and the African Union.
The ANC welcomed the Brics leaders and the African leaders to the summit.
On Tuesday, the fifth Brics summit will begin in Durban. This is the first Brics summit to take place on African soil.
Meanwhile, trade unionists have welcomed the idea of a Brics development bank, but said on Monday it should not function the same way as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The proposed Brics Bank "should … primarily be developmental in character", they stated in a declaration released by the Second Brics Trade Union Forum in Durban on Monday.
The leaders of the five Brics nations are expected to sign an agreement on Wednesday formally setting up the proposed bank.
Brics Development Bank
"We envisage the Brics Development Bank solely owned by Brics, publicly funded, taking all decisions on consensus, promoting trade based on own currencies of its member countries, with a core focus on infrastructure and development in consultation and approval by all stakeholders, inclusive of the community and trade unions," the trade unionists said in the declaration.
Trade unions should be represented at the highest levels, they said.
South African trade union representatives, including the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the Federation of Unions of South Africa, and representatives of the other four Brics nations, met in Durban at the weekend.
The declaration called for greater industrialisation among Brics members, and trade which benefited all the members of the grouping. – Sapa