By Mark Ogagan
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa will unpack South Africa’s significant new role as the incoming President of the Group of Twenty (G20) on December 2, outlining the country’s ambitions when it leads the group of the world’s largest economies.
The G20 is a forum of the largest economies in the world who meet regularly to discuss the most pressing issues facing the global economy.
During the recent G20 Rio Leaders’ Summit in Brazil, Ramaphosa officially accepted South Africa’s responsibility for the G20 Presidency for next year. This will be the first time an African economy leads the G20 for a rotational, one-year term.
Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for The Presidency, said South Africa would, under its G20 Presidency, seek to provide strategic direction in establishing a more equitable, representative and fit-for-purpose international order, in-line with the main multilateral processes under the United Nations.
Brazil held the G20 Presidency this year, and South Africa will at the end of its term hand over the G20 Presidency to the United States in November 2025.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s second largest political party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) submitted a letter to Ramaphosa outlining its list of key proposals on South Africa’s approach to its hosting of the G20 Summit.
This submission includes some of the DA’s desired outcomes for South Africa’s G20 Presidency to ensure that we achieve maximum benefit from this window of immense international opportunity for all South African citizens.
DA deputy spokesperson on international relations and cooperation, Ryan Smith, said the DA was calling for the re-establishment of the G20 Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), which now comprises DA ministers Steenhuisen, Siviwe Gwarube, Solly Malatsi, and Dion George, to serve as South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU) foreign policy engine room.
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