South Africa recently received an invitation to join the party of the so-called BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China. On the face of it this is indeed an honor, and it supports the case made by many that South Africa is one of the BRIC ‘countries of the future’. But does South Africa match up with Brazil, Russia, India and China in economic and trade performance or is it trying to crash the party as an imposter? Is the recent GDP growth and trade performance worthy of being at the party?

The objective for this paper is to critically analyse the relative performance of South Africa in recent times and assess that performance against the BRICs to suggest a guide as to where South Africa sits vis a vis the BRICs. An emphasis will be placed upon GDP growth and trade, as it is these criteria generally associated with the BRICs.

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