China, Russia, and Iran launched a week-long joint naval exercise in South African waters on Saturday, an operation the host country described as part of a BRICS Plus initiative aimed at “ensuring the safety of shipping and maritime economic activities.”
BRICS Plus is an extension of the original BRICS bloc—comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—designed to challenge U.S. and Western economic influence, now expanded to include six additional countries.
While South Africa frequently conducts naval drills with China and Russia, the exercise comes amid rising tensions between the Trump administration and several BRICS Plus members, including China, Iran, South Africa, and Brazil.
Chinese officials overseeing the opening ceremony noted that Brazil, Egypt, and Ethiopia participated as observers.
South Africa’s military stated, “Exercise WILL FOR PEACE 2026 brings together navies from BRICS Plus countries for joint maritime safety operations and interoperability drills.”
Earlier, Trump had accused BRICS nations of pursuing “anti-American” policies and threatened last January to impose a 10% trade tariff on top of existing duties on member countries.
Domestically, South Africa’s pro-Western Democratic Alliance criticized the exercises, claiming they “contradict our stated neutrality” and accuse BRICS of making South Africa a pawn in the power games of rogue states.
Defense Ministry spokesperson Mathebula dismissed the criticism, telling Reuters: “This is not a political arrangement … there is no hostility towards the U.S. It’s a naval exercise. The intention is to improve capabilities and share information.”
