Letsike Urges Youth to Embrace BRICS Diversity and Drive Inclusive Global Future

At the 2025 BRICS Summer School in Johannesburg, Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, delivered a rousing call to action for South African youth to embrace the diversity and transformative potential of the expanded BRICS bloc. Speaking to a packed audience of high school learners, graduates, youth activists, and young professionals, Letsike emphasised the strategic and moral imperative of intersectional inclusion in building a new, multipolar global order.

“BRICS is not just an economic and political bloc. It is a strategic initiative for global transformation, grounded in multipolarity, justice, inclusion, and the self-determination of peoples,” said Letsike.

A Reimagined BRICS: Beyond Economics

The BRICS grouping—originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—has grown in 2025 to include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran, reflecting a bold new chapter in Global South cooperation. Together, the 11-member bloc now represents:

• 46% of the world’s population

• 37% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

These numbers, according to Letsike, go beyond arithmetic. They are symbolic of a new era where the Global South assumes a proactive role in shaping international discourse, governance, and innovation.

“This is not just arithmetic. It is a declaration that the Global South will no longer be spectators in history. We are authors of it,” she said.

BRICS Summer School: Nurturing Young Global Leaders

Held under the theme: “Innovatively Inclusive Futures for BRICS and the Global South,” the 2025 BRICS Summer School serves as a dynamic platform for:

• High school learners (Grades 9–12)

• Unemployed graduates

• Researchers and youth entrepreneurs

• Young professionals and youth activists

The initiative is designed to educate and empower youth with a deep understanding of BRICS' evolution, principles, and prospects. It aligns with the 2025 BRICS Presidency held by Brazil, whose priorities include:

• Global health collaboration

• Trade, finance, and economic sovereignty

• Climate change resilience

• Artificial Intelligence governance

• Peace and security

• Institutional reform

Letsike urged the youth to engage not just intellectually but politically and emotionally, with the vision of a more equitable and sustainable future.

Intersectionality: The Moral Compass of Inclusion

At the core of Letsike’s message was a powerful appeal to intersectionality—a framework that recognises how multiple identities (such as gender, race, disability, and sexuality) intersect to shape individual experiences.

“Young women are not affected by climate change in the same way as young men. Persons with disabilities face unique challenges in accessing digital technologies. LGBTI youth may be excluded from peacebuilding or education initiatives,” she said.

Inclusion, she noted, must not be limited to policy rhetoric. It must be visible, measurable, and transformative.

“Invisibility is not only about silence. It is the absence of women in boardrooms, of persons with disabilities in classrooms, of LGBTI voices in peace negotiations, and of rural youth in the digital economy.”

From Erasure to Empowerment

Letsike warned that societies that erase entire groups from statistics, strategies, and institutions foster environments of vulnerability and exclusion.

“When people are made invisible, they are made vulnerable. Their struggles remain unacknowledged, and their potential remains untapped.”

She linked South Africa’s own legacy of struggle—from the 1956 women’s march and the 1976 youth uprisings, to the ongoing activism of LGBTI and disability rights groups—to the broader BRICS mission of inclusive transformation.

“Intersectionality is both a moral and political imperative. No one is expendable, no one is peripheral, and no one should be erased.”

Reimagining Global Governance Through Youth Inclusion

As BRICS moves to reshape the global order, Letsike encouraged young South Africans to take their place at the forefront of that transformation—not as bystanders, but as co-creators of a future rooted in justice, dignity, and equal opportunity.

She further challenged institutions, governments, and civil society to not only invite marginalised voices to the table, but to reshape the table itself so that power is shared, not concentrated.

“This is our time to build a world where every story matters, every community counts, and every young person has the tools to lead with purpose.”

Final Thoughts: Youth as Architects of the Future

Deputy Minister Letsike’s address was more than a keynote speech—it was a blueprint for activism, a mandate for solidarity, and a vision of youth leadership grounded in intersectionality. As BRICS expands its influence, the challenge now lies in ensuring that its growth mirrors the diverse, inclusive, and transformative values it espouses.