Forging state-building through BRICS: Remodelling South Africa’s foreign policy approach on Zimbabwe

South Africa is increasingly burdened by the continuing crisis in neighbouring Zimbabwe. This article asks the following question: what can South Africa do to resolve the situation, in the face of her weakened regional hegemonic status and the intransigence of a securocratic state in Harare? Tracing foreign policy approaches of the Mandela, Mbeki and Zuma administrations, the article argues that each failed in Zimbabwe because of the focus on symptomatic problems rather than on systemic state-building challenges. In particular, South Africa has been hindered by policymakers’ respect for state sovereignty, and state securitisation. There is an urgent need for an innovative intervention to forge state-building in Zimbabwe. The article outlines how a coordinated approach with the development agencies of the BRICS member states (Brazil, Russian, India, China and South Africa), through their expansive resources and varied expertise, could effectively support state-building in Zimbabwe based on cooperative hegemony.