SA takes G20 helm amid global political instability and shifting world order

1 Dec 2024

South Africa’s G20 presidency – the first for an African nation – may perhaps be the most challenging yet, given the broader political climate.

The first African country to lead the forum, South Africa assumed the Group of 20 (G20) presidency on Sunday, 1 December, amid an increasingly splintered global order.

The G20 comprises 19 of the world’s “systemically” most important economies plus the European Union (EU) and, most recently, the African Union (AU) which was given a permanent seat in the club in 2023.

SA has adopted the G20 presidency theme of “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability”, and Pretoria will use its presidency to advocate for the promotion of African and Global South interests.

Ramaphosa set the tone for the priorities SA will pursue during its G20 presidency, at the handover and closing ceremony of the G20 Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 19 November.

“South Africa’s presidency will be the first time an African country has presided over the G20. We will use this moment to bring the development priorities of the African continent and the Global South more firmly on to the agenda of the G20… The first of these priorities is inclusive economic growth, industrialisation, employment and inequality. The second priority is food security. The third priority is artificial intelligence and innovation for sustainable development,” he said.

According to Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, chief executive of the South African Institute of International Affairs, while the chairs of the G20 have the prerogative to put things on the agenda, not everything can be done in a year, so it’s important to build on the agendas of previous years.

“We’re in a position to be able to shape what the discussions are going to focus on over the course of the next year. Of course, we’re also building on what has gone before us and, in that sense, I think the fact that the first African presidency happens on the back of three developing country presidencies – albeit not from Africa – is important because it creates a significant legacy platform so to speak, around development issues which also resonate with African countries,” she said.

Ramaphosa is expected to formally launch SA’s G20 presidency on Tuesday, 3 December, taking over from Brazil. The US will take over in December 2025, under the leadership of president-elect Donald Trump.

Read more: After the Bell: SA’s G20 gig: bigger than 2010 and Zakumi – don’t blow it!

Pomp and pageantry will be rolled out in Johannesburg over the course of the next year, with about 230 meetings expected to be held in the lead-up to the G20 Summit in November 2025. Hosting events around the G20 is estimated to cost the country R691-million, according to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) Minister, Ronald Lamola.

Building consensus

The biggest geopolitical challenge that SA will have to face in its G20 presidency, according to Sidiropoulos, is coordinating the Troika which consists of the current, previous and next G20 presidencies, which cooperate with one another in preparation for the G20 Summit. This means SA will need to work with Brazil and the US.

“We have an incoming US administration that we know is not entirely bought on international cooperation and on multilateralism,” she said.

“This is the opportunity where you put your best foot forward. Certainly in the past, South Africa has made a name for itself in terms of helping to build bridges and build consensus. Particularly as the chair, that is one of your primary functions.”

Read more: Uncertain future: how a Trump presidency could reshape South Africa’s economic landscape

While South Africa as the chair can place items on the agenda, it needs to ensure that it builds consensus among the group which results in a consensual communiqué, explained Sidiropoulos. During Indonesia’s G20 presidency in 2022, world leaders struggled to find common ground on the war in Ukraine, resulting in a leaders’ declaration which noted “different assessments” of the war in Ukraine – reflective of the tough debates in the formation of the document.

“South Africa needs to make sure that the G20 doesn’t fracture, and that requires skilful diplomacy – something that South Africa is not foreign to.”

South Africa assumes the G20 presidency at a fraught moment in the group’s history, and the world. As Daily Maverick’s Ray Mahlaka wrote, there are major conflicts around the world (Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Palestine and the civil war in Sudan to name a few). There’s also the increasing threat of trade and tariff tension between China and the US, on the horizon with a second Trump presidency.

Sidiropoulos said the challenge for the G20 will be the formulating of a statement that “everybody can buy into”. She said that SA “may have to calibrate its narrative” around certain issues in a way that has “some resonance” with the incoming American administration.

“It’s not going to be easy and I think South Africa is going into it with a very clear sense that it’s not necessarily going to be easy. South Africa needs to make sure that the G20 doesn’t fracture, and that requires skilful diplomacy – something that South Africa is not foreign to,” she said, suggesting Ramaphosa will need to flex his muscles as a negotiator and global statesman.

“It’s not something we haven’t done in the past and specifically, of course, the President hasn’t done,” said Sidiropoulos.

Foreign policy frictions

Meanwhile, the DA, last week, wrote to Ramaphosa outlining its proposals for South Africa’s G20 presidency.

In a statement on 28 November, DA MP Ryan Smith said the party’s submission included “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”.

The DA, according to Smith, called for the re-establishment of the G20 Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to include DA ministers John Steenhuisen, Siviwe Gwarube, Solly Malatsi and Dion George, to serve as the GNU’s “foreign policy engine room”.

“Our G20 Summit is South Africa’s very first step into the international arena as a state under the direction of a plurality of parties and voices, and this more holistic representation of South African society within our national government must now reflect in our international engagements,” said Smith.

The Government of National Unity (GNU) has contended with foreign policy contradictions among the 10 coalition members, particularly between the ANC and the DA.

Read more: SA foreign policy in the time of coalition — it’s complicated

Dirco Minister Ronald Lamola has previously indicated the coalition government’s foreign policy would largely mirror that of the ANC’s. He noted South Africa’s foreign policy was based on the GNU Statement of Intent, which binds the government to a foreign policy guided by human rights, constitutional principles, the national interest, solidarity and the peaceful resolution of conflict; achieving the African Agenda 2063 development plan and promoting cooperation between the Global South and Global North, and fostering multilateralism.

In response to the DA’s statement, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya dubbed it “another PR stunt”.

“This is another form of overreach and continuous attempts by the DA in Parliament at contesting the President’s exercise of his functions. They now have ministers in Cabinet who could have raised their proposal on the G20 directly with the President or the ministers of finance and international relations and cooperation.

“They could have also approached the G20 Sherpa, the DG [director general] of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Zane Dangor, if they meant to be constructive in their approach,” he said.

Magwenya told Daily Maverick an IMC that includes some DA Cabinet members, was already in place. However, the role of the IMC would not include determining policy, he said. DM

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Building consensus

Foreign policy frictions