Breaking Monopolies: How South Africa Can Lead in a Multipolar World

THERE is a quiet war being waged across the globe. Not with guns or tanks, but with ideas, influence, and narratives. At its heart lies a question that should haunt any country born of struggle: who gets to tell our story, and on whose terms?

- ADRI SENEKAL DE WET

South Africa, once a beacon of hope in a world riddled with racial injustice, stands today at a painful crossroads. Our democracy, though hard-won, has been hijacked by elite capture, economic exclusion, and the slow erasure of our liberation ideals. And in the realm of global discourse, we have surrendered our voice to the same Western machinery that once labelled our freedom fighters terrorists.

It is in this context that the message of BRICS, and particularly the recent "Legacy of Hope" initiative, must be understood.

This is not merely about nostalgia or diplomatic alliances. It is about reclaiming agency in a world that is once again fragmenting along lines of power and privilege.

It is about deciding whether we, the people of the Global South, will continue to be pawns, or finally become architects.

In his keynote at the recent Legacy of Hope documentary premiere, Dr. Iqbal Survé cut through the diplomatic pleasantries and exposed the ideological rot at the heart of our national condition: "You cannot live in this country today and ignore the plight of the majority. Unemployment, lack of access to healthcare and education, and hopelessness for our youth are daily realities. So the values of solidarity must be lived at home before being projected globally."