For as much as the ruling African National Congress might sincerely want to host President Putin and accelerate financial multipolarity processes through close cooperation with Russia via BRICS, the “politically inconvenient” fact is that it ultimately chose to submit to Western pressure and not do so. Building upon this observation and the precedent established by the simple thought of sanctions enforcing compliance with foreign demands, BRICS clearly isn’t what many of its supporters assumed.
Priority one for Russia is to settle the Ukraine SMO in a fashion that preserves Russian security. The South Africa BRICS meeting is a lower priority.
Lavrov in place of Putin at BRICS summit. Smart move.