• The fast-growing emerging economies of BRICS have a vital role to address the global economic crisis, thus equaling their status with traditional powers.
• BRICS has the capacity and the political will to engage with the global community and contribute in a meaningful manner to achieve global well-being, stability and growth.
• BRICS believes that the international community should work together to strengthen cooperation for common development.
• The grouping calls for further international financial regulatory oversight and reform, strengthening policy coordination and financial regulation and supervision cooperation, and promoting the sound development of global financial markets and banking systems.
• The Eurozone crisis, along with stagnation in the US economy, is creating anxiety across the globe, including Africa. The BRICS members will do whatever is imperative to ensure economic growth and guarantee financial stability and control inflation.

• The BRICS approach is informed by the need to deepen, broaden and intensify relations within the grouping and individual countries with each other.
• Members are committed to assure that all BRICS countries continue to enjoy strong and sustained economic growth supported by member countries’ increased cooperation in economic, finance and trade matters, which will contribute to the long-term steady, sound and balanced growth of the world economy.
• Member countries are currently major export markets for each other. Internal trade among the BRICS countries registered an average annual growth rate of 28% from 2001 to 2010. The total volume reached $230 billion in 2010.
• Going forward, BRICS countries aim to implement joint projects in energy, infrastructure, investment, S&T, banking and tourism.
• BRICS countries will continue to support each other in the international arena to jointly solve vital regional and global problems, improve world peace and security, strengthen multilateral approaches and facilitate future coordination at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), G-20 and other multilateral mechanisms.

• South Africa’s membership of BRICS has yielded results with us achieving a fourfold increase in exports to fellow members in the BRICS group, while imports from them doubled.
• South Africa will benefit from the concrete projects of BRICS in areas such as agriculture, science, statistics, development finance institutions, security and justice.
• China, Russia, India and South Africa will support Brazil as the host of the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development to reach a new political commitment during the Conference and achieve positive and practical results in areas of economic growth, social development and environmental protection under the framework of sustainable development.

• South Africa sees its BRICS membership as a strategic opportunity through which we can advocate Africa’s interests on global issues such as the reform of global governance, fair international trade, economic integration and climate change.
• Through BRICS, South Africa will craft more vigorous trade and investment programmes for Africa to ensure that the voice of the continent is heard in the broader international platforms.
• BRICS members are challenging the past when previously economic growth points were located in the industrialised countries of the North, bypassing Africa. South Africa’s participation in BRICS signals that Africa is going to be part of the changing world.
• Our BRICS partners view South Africa as a gateway into the continent, with South Africa providing guidance on African economic development opportunities.
• Africa’s future prosperity is increasingly linked to the BRICS economies which have a large savings pool. Africa requires $480 billion for infrastructure development.
• Africa is projected as the third-fastest growing economy in the world, while the BRICS countries now constitute the largest trading partners of Africa and largest new investors.
• We believe BRICS presents South Africa and Africa with an opportunity to work closely together on issues pertaining to peace and security in our region, including future coordination on issues on the table of the UNSC.

• BRICS seeks to advance the restructuring of the global political, economic and financial architecture into one that is more equitable and balanced and rests on the important pillar of multilateralism.
• BRIC members will continue to work on a greater voice for emerging economies in international financial institutions and for a more diversified global monetary system.
• All BRICS countries are currently serving on the UNSC as permanent (China and the Russian Federation) or non-permanent members (Brazil, India and South Africa) and share the objective of pushing for the reform of the UN, especially the UNSC, with a view to making it more effective, efficient and representative, so that it can deal with today’s global challenges more successfully.
• BRICS has a fully fledged global format, which makes them better equipped to represent the developing world and constitutes a stronger force to counter international forums largely dominated by the developed world.

South Africa’s diversified foreign-policy objectives and interests allow for IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) and BRICS to co-exist.

• The IBSA and BRICS agendas are highly complementary and various synergies exist.
• The IBSA mechanism is important for enhancing South Africa’s trilateral partnership with India and Brazil and South-South relations to address global issues of common interest and advance national priorities through the sharing of best experiences.
• South Africa will leverage both formations to promote the African Agenda and create new trade opportunities for value-added exports and investment.
• There has been steady growth in the three IBSA economies with intra-IBSA trade almost reaching the $20-billion mark. The IBSA countries have set a target of $25 billion by 2015.
• Any demise of IBSA would negatively affect attempts at harmonizing preferential trade agreements between the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu), the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the Latin American Trade Bloc to culminate into an India-Mercosur and Sacu trilateral trade arrangement.

Government calls on all South Africans to be responsible and get tested.

TB is curable and HIV is preventable, and ALL sectors of society must be mobilised to effectively eliminate TB and HIV!

• Government urges all South Africans to get tested on a regular basis, as this will enable us to make better and healthier life choices which will take the nation closer to realising zero infections, deaths, stigma and  discrimination from TB and HIV.
   
• In South Africa, 76% of people living with HIV and AIDS also have TB.
• TB is preventable and curable even if you are HIV positive:
  • Cover your cough. Spitting a small amount of the TB germs into the air spreads TB.
  • Wash your hands after you cough and opening windows and doors. Fresh air kills the TB bacteria.
  • Immunise babies after birth and before the age of two to protect them from TB-Meningitis.
• Early diagnosis of TB saves lives:
  • Screen for TB at the nearest clinic for free.
  • Symptoms include coughing for more than two weeks, night sweats, an unintentional loss of weight, fatigue and feeling tired and chest pains.
  • If you screen positive for TB, then you must test for HIV.  People who test positive for HIV should always also screen for TB.
  • People with HIV are more likely to develop TB. 
• Treatment is free at all public health facilities:
  • If you test positive for TB, you must take your medication for the full six months to cure TB and protect you and others from re-infection.
  • Do not stop treatment early because you feel better. You may develop multi-drug resistant, which is extremely dangerous to your health and the community.
• All patients with both TB and HIV will get treatment with antiretrovirals if their CD4 count is 350 or less.

Working together we can do more to improve management of TB and HIV in South African mines.

Government recognises the need for an interventionist approach to assist the gold-mining sector

• The 2012 World TB Day commemoration events and engagements with communities and the sectors serve as platform for scaled-up response to TB in the mines, with particular focus on the gold-mining sector.
• Gold mines have limited TB & HIV services.
• In collaboration with the gold-mining sector, government has committed to a year-long focus campaign to roll out screening and testing to all gold mines, prioritising those with limited or non-existent TB & HIV services.
• A target of 160 000 gold miners is set for screening and testing for TB and HIV.
• Government calls on the mining sector to “Play Your Part” and align to the forthcoming Southern African Development Community TB in Mines Declaration (The Stop TB Partnership Secretariat and World Bank have been supporting this process since October 2010.)

• On 1 December 2011, President Jacob Zuma and Deputy President Motlanthe presented the NSP 2012 – 2016, coordinated by SANAC to the nation.
• The launch of the NSP Implementation Plan outlines clear practical actions and roles and timelines to respond to the challenge of HIV, AIDS and TB to achieve the set targets.
• Government calls on all South Africans and sectors to “Play Your Part” in ensuring the success of the implementation plan that will contribute towards securing the health and well-being of our nation. 
• All sectors of the society are encouraged to engage the plan and commit to align their respective efforts, strategies and resources to implement relevant aspects of the NSP.
• The plan is not static – focus on the mining community sector is part of the Policy in Action on TB and HIV (PATH) Campaign to hear the views of communities regarding HIV and TB, and through SANAC, ensure that these community-based issues are addressed by the relevant ministries and SANAC sectors.
• Electronic versions of the full NSP, the simplified version as well as provincial implementation plans will be available for download on the SANAC website (www.sanac.org.za).  A Facebook page is linked to the SANAC website.