President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa is a man known to be committed to due process, often to the annoyance of many South Africans. This has earned him a number of nicknames, including “Ramapostpona”, the one who always postpones matters. Flip-flopping in its international relations in the recent past, including its position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has not made things easy for Ramaphosa’s government. In April, he announced erroneously that South Africa was withdrawing from its membership of the International Criminal Court (ICC) only to apologise later; South Africa remains in the ICC.

So, when the announcement was made last week at the 15th BRICS Summit regarding the six new member states, the general reaction in South Africa was less than excited for a number of reasons. Egypt, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Iran joined Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in BRICS, raising the membership to eleven. Many in South Africa questioned the criteria applied by BRICS when accepting new members, especially regarding the human rights records of the Middle East states.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, for example, has presided over one of the biggest crackdowns on human rights in the country’s history. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have documented a range of egregious human rights abuses in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia claimed that rogue elements within its security apparatus killed Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was lured into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by Saudi intelligence officers with a close relationship to Bin Salman. His body was dismembered and dissolved in acid before his remains were poured down the drain. The CIA laid the blame firmly at Bin Salman’s door.