US President Donald Trump launched his Board of Peace yesterday. South Africa has emerged as the only BRICS country that was not asked to join Donald Trump’s newly launched Board of Peace. Trump formally launched the Board of Peace on Thursday, during a signing ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The other major members of the BRICS blochave yet to confirmwhether they will join the board. At the Davos event, Trump was flanked by representatives of countries that have agreed to join the board, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Uzbekistan, Mongolia and Vietnam. Major Western powers such as the United Kingdom, France, Norway and Sweden refused to sign on, and countries such as India and China have yet to commit publicly.
Despite invitations goingout to at least 50 world leaders, South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said he had not been invited to participate in the Board of Peace and was not present in Davos. In the post on X by @newslivesa, Ramaphosa said he was focusing on domestic priorities such as the ANC Lekgotla and the State of the Nation. He said he is “not even checking my inbox” for an invitation.
[paywall]
The omission comes amid broader strains in relations between Pretoria and Washington. Trump has also described violence against white farmers as if it were a systematic, racially motivated campaign to destroy them – a form of “genocide”.
[/paywall]
