Brics summit outcomes to be released

Cape Town - Key decisions adopted by Heads of State at a Brics summit in Russia will be released on Monday.

South African Brics Think Tank chairperson Dr Olive Shisana will brief reporters in Pretoria at 11:00. 

President Jacob Zuma was pleased with the outcomes of the seventh summit and returned to the country at the weekend.

He believed the summit had helped “deepen co-operation between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

"There is no doubt in our minds that almost seven years after we joined Brics, the world's geopolitics is changing and the Brics bloc of countries is having a significant impact, particularly on the developing economies.”

With Zuma back, he would attend to a meeting request by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.

"The presidency has noted the request of ... Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng to meet with President Jacob Zuma to discuss the concerns of the judiciary pertaining to relations between the executive and the judiciary arms of the state,” it said. 

"The president wishes to reassert his own commitment and that of the executive to the independence of the judiciary and its role as the final arbiter in all disputes in society, as well as to the further strengthening of the existing good working relations between the two arms of the state."

Mogoeng told journalists last week that he rejected claims that judges are being influenced to reach specific verdicts, saying he wanted to share his concerns about the allegations with Zuma.