STORY: S. Africa expects more opportunities, cooperation from BRICS cooperation: officials
DATELINE: Aug. 21, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:09
LOCATION: JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the venue of the 15th BRICS Summit
2. various of Johannesburg, South Africa
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): FIKILE MBALULA, Secretary General, African National Congress
4. various of South Africa
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MAROPENE RAMOKGOPA, Minister in Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, South Africa
6. various of Chinese enterprises in South Africa
7. various of Johannesburg, South Africa

STORYLINE:

South African officials have said the country expects more opportunities and greater cooperation from the 15th BRICS Summit to be held from Tuesday to Thursday in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, officials from South Africa acknowledged the bloc's role in increasing trade and investment, as well as upgrading infrastructure in Africa.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): FIKILE MBALULA, Secretary General, African National Congress
"China's investment has grown to 544 billion rand (about 28.6 billion U.S. dollars) in terms of the South African economy injection. We are looking at the possibility of beneficiation out of this relationship between the two countries, such as that this visit opens those possibilities in terms of the two countries.
It is indeed a fraternal comrade friendship that, like I said, spans decades of years. We are very much delighted that we live to see that today this relationship is still (getting) stronger and stronger.
We have seen the interest not only in African countries, but globally, countries want to join BRICS. BRICS is very important to the rest of the world, so we'll start something that is of significance in terms of this particular bloc, and that is quite encouraging."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MAROPENE RAMOKGOPA, Minister in Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, South Africa
"China has really invested so much in infrastructure development in the entire (African) continent. In most of our continent, If you compare 10 years ago to what it is today, you'll see a lot of high-rise buildings, but most of all you do know that when you invest in infrastructure, you definitely invest in job creation.
We think that the world is changing. We are now getting into a multipolar world. BRICS is a multilateral or plurilateral forum where we discuss issues of trade, but not only trade, but people-to-people relation. I do believe that this is where things are going to be different because we are seeing the solidification of new powers emerging."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa.
(XHTV)