The establishment of the BRICS New Development Bank signals the maturing of the financial relationships among thepartners of the “club.” This has acquired a heightened profile through the Cape Town Declaration, whereby the BRICSministers of science and technology committed to cooperation on science, technology and innovation (STI). This articleexplores some of the questions raised by the declaration, for example regarding the status of intra-BRICS STI cooperation,the rationale for the choice of specific fields of cooperation and the countries’ strengths in these fields. How do these fieldsalign with each country’s domestic STI strategy? What bilateral STI agreements are already in place, and what have theydelivered? How does the Cape Town Declaration align or compromise the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) process? Willrising geopolitical tensions (Black Sea, China Sea) limit the scope of STI cooperation? This article also demonstrates whySouth Africa is important to the club. Addressing these questions requires a study of geopolitics, finance, trade and othermodes of engagement, STI included. One convenient framework is a macro-level PESTEL analysis, with a more detailedlook at the ‘T’ for technology, for which read STI. Other document analysis, and economic, social and STI indicators,together with bibliometric data provide the empirical basis for the arguments. The analysis, together with the identificationof national imperatives, allows an interrogation of the potential of the Cape Town Declaration. It is argued that South Africais not only the “Gateway to Africa,” but also that it displays the highest level of intra-BRICS scientific cooperation.