Brazil Announces BRICS Chairmanship Priorities for 2025

The Brazilian government has published a document summarising the priorities of its BRICS presidency. 

Two priorities are listed – cooperation in the Global South and partnership for social development – which are divided into six central areas: cooperation in global health, trade and finance, climate change issues, governance of artificial intelligence, reform of the multilateral peace and security architecture and institutional development.

In the area of global health cooperation, the need for increased investment in research and production of medicinesREAD MORE

Former Bafana Bafana midfielder Thulani Serero is back where it all started in Cape Town.

Serero, 34, has joined Cape Town City, marking a return to the Mother City.

‘Cream,’ as he’s affectionately known in football circles, kicked off his professional career with Ajax Cape Town in 2008, before making a switch to the Netherlands, where he played for Ajax Amsterdam from 2011 to 2017.

The Soweto-born Serero went on to play for another Dutch club, Vitesse, before a moveREAD MORE

A KwaZulu-Natal sunfoil oil company, Willowton Group, has agreed to pay R1 million fine for price fixing.

The Pietermaritzburg-based company will also spend another R100 million on public interest projects, including setting up a bursary fund for needy students worth R20 million, after admitting to price fixing and market division.

Willowton Group, whose products are widely used by households in South Africa, admitted wrongdoing and struck a deal with the Competition Tribunal last week. 

It joins a growing list ofREAD MORE

Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko and Ethiopian Ambassador to Moscow Genet Teshome Girru discussed plans of cooperation between the countries in the field of health care and prospects of its development for the current year. This is reported on the website of the Russian Ministry.

They agreed to increase comprehensive cooperation, including in the field of medical education. According to Murashko, 24 Ethiopian citizens are now studying in Russian universities. He added that the Russian leadership is ready to expandREAD MORE

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed the Limpopo MEC for Public Works, Roads, and Infrastructure Ernest Rachoene’s application for leave to appeal a High Court ruling which set aside his decision to fire the Road Agency Limpopo (RAL) board and CEO Gabriel Maluleke. 

The SCA’s decision, delivered on 30 January 2025, upheld the Polokwane High Court’s ruling to reinstate Maluleke and the agency’s board, which Rachoene had unlawfully dissolved in July 2024. 

The ruling is a serious blowREAD MORE

In an unprecedented move since the dawn of democracy in 1994, the South African government has cancelled Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s 2024/2025 budget speech due to policy disputes within President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Government of National Unity (GNU).

The governing African National Congress (ANC) and its grand coalition main partner, the Democratic Alliance (DA), could not agree on the proposed 2% increase in the Value-Added Tax (VAT) from the current 15% to 17%. 

The postponement, announced during a Parliamentary sitting inREAD MORE

Egypt allocated approximately US$184 million under the National Veal Project. This is reported by Daily News Egypt, a partner of TV BRICS.

This initiative, spearheaded by the Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Alaa Farouk, recently approved around US$5.9 million to support 428 small-scale farmers and recent graduates. The total project funding will enable the acquisition of 4,280 head of cattle as part of the presidential “Decent Life” initiative, which aims to improveREAD MORE

South Africa has a new chairwoman at the helm of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). My esteemed colleague, Dr. Karen Stander, a senior lecturer in the Department of Business Management at Unisa’s College of Economic and Management Sciences (CEMS), has stepped into a role riddled with complexities. Yet, her appointment, while worth celebrating—also signals something more troubling: the ever-persistent reality of the glass cliff.

Dr. Stander’s appointment by the Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Nobuhle Pamela Nkabane, asREAD MORE

The G20 foreign ministers will meet in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 20-21 February. This is a landmark event not only for South Africa, but also for the entire African continent, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

She noted that South Africa would be hosting a G20 event for the first time. According to the diplomat, the Russian delegation will be headed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is scheduled to have a number of contacts withREAD MORE

The decision by Athletics South Africa (ASA) to deprive South Africans of televised national championships is an act of gross negligence, a betrayal of our sporting heritage, and an affront to the principles of development and transformation in sport. 

This move is not just a failure in governance but a calculated abdication of responsibility. As someone who has been involved in sports administration since my days in SATISCO and through the establishment of federations that now govern our national sportingREAD MORE