South African President Cyril Ramaphosa used his platform at the BRICS summit’s session on global governance Saturday to push for even-handed enforcement of international law, singling out what he called ongoing atrocities against Palestinians and Sudanese civilians, alongside what he termed an unlawful war against Iran.
Ramaphosa warned that selective application of international law was undermining the credibility of the entire rules-based order, arguing the same standards and protections must extend to every state and every population without exception. He said pressure needs to be applied and violations called out no matter who commits them or when.
He tied his remarks to South Africa’s broader record on the issue, noting Pretoria’s decision to pursue Israel before the International Court of Justice, and warned that continued disregard for the UN Charter — including reliance on war rather than diplomacy to resolve interstate disputes — risks pushing the United Nations toward irrelevance.
The South African leader also renewed his country’s long-running push for UN Security Council reform, arguing that Africa’s 54 nations and roughly a fifth of the world’s population deserve permanent representation on the council — something he called neither fair nor sustainable under the current structure. He urged BRICS to function as a unifying voice for institutional reform and a bridge between competing global blocs, rather than aligning strictly along East-West or North-South lines.
His comments came as the summit worked toward the New Delhi Declaration, a joint statement leaders hope will translate BRICS’ policy positions into more concrete, actionable commitments — including expected language on Gaza, support for Palestinian statehood, and calls for a ceasefire and unhindered aid access in Sudan.
