The paradox of South Africa being formally neutral on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, yet parallelly deepening military relationship with Russia, is continuing to strain US–South Africa relations.

South Africa has utilised the opportunity provided by the COVID-19 pandemic to consolidate its regional leadership and augment connections with major external partners like India.

The recent spate of violence in South Africa appears to be rooted in the country’s failure to fully transform itself in the post-apartheid era. If the government fails to effectively address the issue of rising unemployment and widening socio-economic inequality in the country, the violence is likely to recur from time to time.

The RSA may be forced to choose between significantly increasing the budgetary allocations for the SAN and adopting a rotational storage programme to preserve capability while reducing operational costs.

BRICS is not challenging the existing world order. It is seeking a place in the sun for developing countries. It is looking at alternative approaches but there is no desire to seek confrontation with the West.

While their growing economic clout has brought Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa together, translating the hand holding gestures at the end of each summit into real unity is likely to remain a daunting task.