The group BRIC was created in 2006 to bring together the major emerging countries of the world. During its 3rd summit in 2011, South Africa formally joined the group, which then became BRICS. Its accession to the group, however, is puzzling, since South Africa is much smaller than the other BRICS in terms of its economy, territory and population. Why was South Africa invited to join the group? This article argues that to answer that question it is necessary to consider the symbolic dimension of the group. Even though the group may be useful for both enhancing relations between its members and coordinating their positions in multilateral forums, BRICS countries aim primarily at using BRICS as a symbol of the greater relevance of the 'Global South' in comparison to the 'Global North'. In this regard, South Africa joined the group to perform the role of representative of Africa, thus strengthening the image of BRICS as representative of the 'Global South'. With an African country, the 'Global South' would be 'better' represented in the BRICS. Although the status of South Africa as representative of Africa is controversial, this article argues that South Africa is the best suited country to perform this role. This is due to two factors: South Africa has a more mature economy than other major African countries and it has a soft power that no other African country possesses. The article comes to these conclusions by both analysing the interests of each BRIC country in being a member of the group and examining their positions on the admittance of South Africa into it.
BRICS; South Africa; Global South; Symbol