'BRICS is a Choice': Ex-South African FM on Bloc's Value and Africa's Struggle Against Colonialism

"This one is a transparent effort to get like-minded people together, and as soon as we've got all the instruments in place, it will no doubt be open to people who would like to come and join BRICS. And we are consciously working for a better world. Having learned what we have learned from our past, there is no other way," she noted.

"I don't know if there's a single African country that would stomach any kind of colonialism. Because we have been through the worst kind of oppression and brought on by either a particular type of colonialism or the normal type of definition [...] We've lost a lot of lives. The colonial conquest was a terrible blight on our history, and it should not and will not happen again if we are conscious of what we're doing on a daily basis," she remarked.

"We benefited from Russia beyond what we can give back to Russia, incredibly. We are where we are now because Russia made it possible amongst other countries, and we would like to make sure that the friendship does continue, and we keep learning as we go along," the former top diplomat pointed out.

"It's the teamwork that made it possible for all of us Africans to come and say to Russia, we think that we have some words of wisdom to give to you, and we were mighty proud of the outcome as Africans," she said, adding that South Africa is "effectively monitoring" the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the commitments made by both sides.