Over 200,000 young people start work in schools today
Dear Fellow South African,
Today marks the ‘first day at school’ for about 200,000 young people at over 20,000 schools nationwide. This time, however, they are not arriving at school as learners, but as working adults. They are participants in the fifth phase of the Basic Education Employment Initiative, the largest youth employment programme in South Africa’s history.
After a year’s pause, the initiative returns to townships, villages, inner cities, farms and special needs schools, bringing hope, energy and incomes to places where opportunities are too often out of reach.
The initiative is a flagship programme of the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which has, since its inception in 2020, supported the delivery of jobs and livelihood opportunities in our country. The Basic Education Employment Initiative is implemented by the Department of Basic Education and by provincial education departments. It is now funded by the UIF Labour Activation Programme and national government.
This programme is designed to develop the work skills that employers say they need, such as time management, task management, teamwork, problem solving, IT, admin and much more.
In the process, participants undertake roles aligned to school priorities to ensure these young people add real value, enhancing the learning environment for learners and strengthening learning outcomes.
The Basic Education Employment Initiative offers opportunities for young people at all skills levels. Graduates are prioritised for work in the classroom, where their tasks allow teachers to spend more time on teaching and lesson preparation. Curriculum Assistants support maths, science and technology. Reading Champions promote literacy and a culture of reading. Lab and Workshop Assistants support technical subjects. Others support IT and school administration.
They also tackle essential maintenance, such as fixing doors, painting peeling walls, maintaining school vegetable gardens and playgrounds. Care and Support Assistants work with School Support Teams to identify and support children at risk. Still others spark life into sports, art and music, activities that inspire learners, uncover their talents and build pride in communities. Together, these roles provide real work experience to young people and vital support to our education system.
The best possible advice to the young people starting at schools this week comes from a former participant in the programme. In 2023, Sibongile Joni was a Curriculum Assistant at Emsengeni Primary School in the Eastern Cape. She has since been employed in an NGO called Masinyusane.
She has this advice for participants now starting in the programme: “Be reliable: your consistency builds trust. Be willing to learn, ask questions, accept feedback and grow daily. Take initiative: if something needs to be done, do it without waiting to be told. Treat every task as important, no matter how small, because excellence in the small things builds your reputation. Always be professional: your attitude, respect and conduct matter. Build strong relationships with staff and learners. People open doors for those they trust and enjoy working with. Lastly, make the most of the trainings offered, they equip you with the skills you’ll need for your next step.”
She says this journey has taught her that growth doesn’t come overnight. She says: “Start strong. Stay consistent. You’re building your future today.”
Every participant has their own hopes and dreams for their future beyond this programme. Whether they pursue a career in education, undertake further studies, search for a job or embrace self-employment, they won’t be starting from scratch. From this programme, they will carry invaluable skills and experience. Yet, in a tough labour market, they will each need to tackle their next chapter with creativity and initiative.
As a society, we cannot leave young people to navigate the transition into work alone. Together, we need to step up to assist them.
These young people will leave the school environment having shown up, contributed and made a difference. They will have worked in high-pressure environments with limited resources and will understand deadlines and responsibility.
To employers, we say: give them their next opportunity, mentor their enthusiasm, help take their potential to the next level.
We also need to reach those young people who want to be entrepreneurs. We need to find new ways to support those who want to create their own jobs and local value, to connect them to finance, training, markets and networks.
Today we celebrate this cohort of young people beginning meaningful work, many for the first time. But let us also not forget those who applied for these posts but who weren’t selected.
Through the Presidential Employment Stimulus, we have demonstrated the government’s capacity to address the youth unemployment problem. Through this programme we have been able to give young people work experience and a pathway to formal employment or even further education.
We do believe that this will have a much longer term benefit for the employability of young people. This is but one initiative that seeks to address the youth unemployment challenge. We still have much more to do to address the plight of young people.
These young people are showing us what they are capable of. It is up to all of us in society to give them the opportunities they need to thrive.
Across the world, countries are having to grapple with their past as they confront the challenges of today. The past that countries deal with is often about atrocities that were committed against sections of their people.
Dealing with the memory of past atrocities is one of the most difficult and delicate tasks a nation can undertake. This can be a cathartic process but is vital if a country is committed to enhance national healing, cohesion and unity. The way a country remembers its painful past can shape the character of it democracy, the legitimacy of its institutions and the resilience of its people.
As a country, we have had to contend with our past in the interests of social cohesion and nation-building. We have advanced policies of restitution and redress to both acknowledge and correct the historical injustice of apartheid.
We remain equally committed to restoring the dignity of apartheid’s countless victims and to bringing closure to their families.
Over the past weekend we reburied the remains of Adv Duma Nokwe, a hero of the anti-apartheid struggle and former Secretary-General of the African National Congress, who died in exile in Zambia in 1978.
Nokwe was the first black advocate to be admitted to the Johannesburg Bar, and both a defendant and a member of the defence team in the treason trial of 1956. In recognition of his contribution to the legal fraternity, we conferred him the status of senior counsel posthumously.
Duma Nokwe was one of 42 former liberation heroes and heroines who passed away in exile whose remains were repatriated from Zambia and Zimbabwe in September last year. We are grateful for the countries that gave our people shelter and support in exile and provided a resting place for those who died before they could return home.
Many families in this country lost their loved ones to apartheid brutality and live with these scars. The apartheid regime even pursued activists that had fled the country and their whereabouts remain unknown.
In 1994 we chose a path of national reconciliation. We established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to shed a light on the atrocities committed during apartheid.
Even as democratic South Africa attempted to unearth what happened and to hold those accountable to account, many apartheid-era security officials either refused to appear before the TRC or did not fully disclose their actions. Others resorted to delaying tactics and obstruction to evade trial.
As we recently announced, I am in the process of establishing a judicial commission of inquiry to look into allegations of interference in the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes referred by TRC.
As government we remain steadfast in our commitment to restoring the dignity of activists who died and were buried abroad, and to our country men and women who were subjected to indignities in foreign lands.
This is being done within legal frameworks such as the National Heritage Resources Act. This framework facilitated the repatriation of Sara Baartman’s remains for burial in South Africa in 2002. We have also developed a draft National Policy on the Repatriation and Restitution of Human Remains and Heritage Objects which will guide our efforts going forward.
The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and other government institutions continue to engage with several countries to facilitate the return of human remains.
Even today some museums and universities in western Europe have collections that contain human remains of South Africa’s Khoi and San people. In 2012, South Africa facilitated the return of the remains of a Khoi couple dubbed Klaas and Trooi from a museum in Vienna, after they had been illegally exhumed and smuggled abroad more than 100 years earlier.
The American novelist William Faulkner once wrote: “The past is never dead, it’s not even past.”
For the many families and communities across this country who never got the opportunity to lay their loved ones to rest or to even know how they died, the past will continue to cast a long shadow.
In the interests of national reconciliation, in the interests of moving forward, we will continue with our efforts to restore dignity to all those who were denied it in life.
A heavy price was paid by many for the democracy we have today. This should continue to inspire us as we work together towards a shared future.
South Africa and the US have much to gain from working together
Dear Fellow South African,
Last week, I undertook a successful working visit to the United States at the invitation of President Donald Trump to strengthen relations between our two countries.
The delegation that accompanied me included a diverse range of South Africans, with representatives from Government, business, labour and the sporting fraternity, all united in advancing our country’s interests.
South Africa has always regarded the United States as a strong investment and trading partner. Our countries and our economies are bound together in many ways. We went to Washington to establish a basis for greater economic cooperation and to address some of the challenges that have recently arisen in relations between our two countries.
Our visit came at a time when US-SA relations have come under increasing strain, largely as a result of misinformation peddled by fringe groups in our two countries, including a false narrative about a so-called genocide and an orchestrated campaign of violence against white farmers.
In this context, it was critical for us to engage directly with the US administration to correct misinformation and provide a true account of the progress we have made as a democracy and the many and complex challenges we still face.
While this was a necessary conversation, the overarching aim of our visit was to deepen our strategic economic partnership with the US as our second-largest trading partner.
The US is a key export market for South African goods, products and services, including motor vehicles, agricultural products and, increasingly, critical minerals. At the same time we buy many goods and services from the US.
There is potential to increase and diversify trade between our two countries in areas such as gas, mining and critical minerals, agriculture and nuclear products.
The US is a major source of investment in South Africa. There are over 600 US companies, many with a long-established presence here, who continue to expand their investments.
By way of example, earlier this year tech giant Microsoft announced plans to invest an additional R5.4 billion in expanding its cloud and AI infrastructure in South Africa over the next two years. Last week, there was a strong showing of US companies at an important energy conference in Cape Town.
According to data from the US Department of Commerce, these South Africa-based US companies employ around 148,000 South Africans. South Africa continues to be a tourist destination to many US citizens. Last year close to 400,000 American tourists visited South Africa.
South Africa and the US have for many years had a longstanding development partnership in critical areas such as health, education and environmental conservation and protection.
One of the key outcomes of the substantive discussions we had with President Trump was agreement on an economic cooperation channel between the US administration and South Africa to engage further on tariffs and a broad range of trade matters.
President Trump agreed that the US should continue playing a key role in the G20, including attending the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg later this year, where South Africa will hand over the presidency of the G20 to the US.
We also discussed exploring new opportunities for companies from South Africa and the US in each other’s markets. We were able to update US officials on the ongoing structural reform process underway to improve the ease of doing business and facilitate a favourable investment climate.
We are operating from a firm base. Last year’s country Investment Climate Summit published by the US State Department highlights South Africa being an attractive investment hub, citing key factors such as deep and well-regulated capital markets, strengths in manufacturing stable institutions, an independent judiciary and robust legal sector, respect for the rule of law, a mature financial and services sector, and experienced local partners.
We have extended an invitation to President Trump to send a government and business delegation to South Africa to explore opportunities for deepening investment and trade.
In 1990, soon after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela addressed the US Congress. He spoke of the envisaged economic cooperation between a democratic South Africa and the US as “not a relationship between donor and recipient, between a dependent and a benefactor”, but one of mutual benefit.
This spirit of cooperation remains firmly in place more than 30 years later.
Our successful working visit to the US reaffirmed the importance of keeping the channels of dialogue open. The willingness of the US to engage with South Africa on resetting our relationship is testament to the strength of the bilateral relationship.
We need to work together as Government, business, labour and all of society to overcome our domestic challenges, including the high rate of crime, if we are to attract investment that advances economic growth and creates jobs.
As South Africans, as a sovereign and independent nation, we are always ready to acknowledge and address our problems, just as we are always ready to engage our critics in meaningful discussion.
We are pleased that our visit to Washington established a basis for greater engagement and cooperation. Our two countries have everything to gain from working more closely together.
The 2025 Child Protect Month is taking place from the 11 May to 11 June 2025, under the theme“Working together in ending violence against children” . Child Protection Month is part of the 365 Days Child Protection Programme of Action activities to place children’s issues on the spotlight, focussing on targeted interventions to children, parents, caregivers and communities, raising awareness on plight of children who on daily basis are confronted with violence and social ills that affect their well-being, raising awareness and education about available services as communities are often unaware where to go when experiencing challenges or are in crisis. The education and awareness enable early detection, reporting and referral of children and families in distress for early intervention services.
We are deepening our trade and investment ties across Africa
Dear Fellow South African,
This week I am attending the Africa CEO Forum in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan, where we are showcasing our country’s potential as a premier investment and trade destination. We are also supporting South African firms as they seek new opportunities on the continent.
This is an annual event that brings together almost 3,000 CEOs, heads of state and investors to explore potential business leads, partnerships and opportunities.
South Africa’s high-level participation in this Forum underscores our commitment to play a leading role in Africa’s economic integration.
The Africa CEO Forum takes place at a time of much disruption in the global economy, characterised by geopolitical tension, trade wars and conflicts that are causing instability in key shipping corridors.
What this means is that South African businesses are actively exploring new market opportunities.
South African investments in other African countries have a long history. These investments have grown and diversified from mining into sectors such as construction, IT and telecommunications, healthcare, financial services, retail and the green economy.
Since the advent of democracy in 1994, our government has implemented several initiatives to promote trade and investment elsewhere on the continent, including partnerships and trade agreements.
We are witnessing the benefits of these efforts. The latest trade statistics published by the SA Revenue Service point to increased exports to countries in the region, like Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia, as well as with the rest of Africa.
We are determined to use the longstanding presence of South African companies on our continent to expand trade and investment with fellow African nations.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is creating a more predictable and conducive environment for business to thrive across borders. Our businesses must seize this opportunity even as the processes of harmonising regulations continues.
The upheavals in the global economy present an opportunity for strategic, Africa-focused trade and investment policy.
South African business must be at the forefront of the transformation of African industry. As government, we are committed to provide the necessary supportive policy and regulatory frameworks.
By equal measure we will be making the case for African firms to invest in South Africa. We have a diverse economy with highly developed industrial sectors. We have established industries in mining, agriculture, manufacturing, financial and professional services, IT and others.
South Africa is a leader in digital innovation on the continent and one of the leading incubators of tech start-ups. The World Intellectual Property Organisation ranks South Africa second among economies in sub-Saharan Africa in the Global Innovation Index.
The structural reform process began under the sixth administration and continued under the Government of National Unity aims to position South Africa as a premier trade and investment destination.
We are working to make our economy more competitive by reducing the cost of doing business, improving our infrastructure and investing in skills development. We are reforming our visa regime to attract skills and promote tourism in South Africa.
We are using our G20 Presidency to amplify the continent’s voice and focus global attention on Africa’s economic potential. We are prioritising inclusive global cooperation, a just and equitable economic recovery and promoting long-term environmental resilience.
South Africa is greatly encouraged by a new wave of continental business expansion. We are forging ahead to deepen investment and trade with the rest of the continent in a manner that contributes to shared prosperity for all Africa’s people.
We need to protect the rights of workers to build an inclusive economy
Dear Fellow South African,
We have just observed Workers’ Day, which is commemorated across the world in honour of the struggles of workers for fair labour standards and conditions of work.
Since the advent of democracy in 1994, we have observed Workers’ Day also to acknowledge the historical role of workers and the labour movement in our broader struggle for freedom.
Over the past 31 years we have made considerable progress in improving our labour laws and protecting the rights of workers.
We emerged from a past where black workers were deliberately denied their rights. For many years, black workers could not be organised into unions, through job reservation they were denied access to certain occupations and they often worked in unsafe and unhealthy conditions.
Today, the rights of workers in South Africa are protected and enforced. The Constitution enshrines the rights of workers as it does the rights of every person who lives in South Africa. Since 1994, we have passed progressive laws to give effect to the rights of workers.
Following extensive consultation with business, labour and civil society, in 2019 we introduced a National Minimum Wage, setting a wage below which no worker may be paid. Studies have found that since its introduction the National Minimum Wage has led to a significant increase in hourly wages for workers, and has also played a role in reducing the gap between the highest and lowest paid workers.
We have sought to break from our apartheid past where workers laboured under oppressive conditions to swell the profits of companies without receiving even the most basic benefits. This includes measures to advance worker ownership in companies. An increasing number of workers are part of worker share ownership programmes.
We have been deliberate in our efforts to protect the rights of women workers. The Employment Equity Act prohibits unfair discrimination on the basis of sex, gender, pregnancy and marital status. Female workers are guaranteed specific entitlements such as maternity and family responsibility leave, and we have laws that safeguard against sexual harassment and gender-based violence in the workplace.
At a time of constrained economic growth and high unemployment, we have seen calls from some people, including political parties, for our country’s labour laws to be ‘relaxed’ in response to the prevailing economic climate.
Stimulating economic growth and job creation and retaining worker protections are not mutually exclusive. In fact, worker rights have been found to improve productivity and thereby enhance the growth of companies and the economy. They also help to distribute the benefits of growth more equally and improve economic stability.
In addition, South Africa’s labour laws are part of our effort to overcome the structural inequality of apartheid.
The latest report of the Employment Equity Commission shows how far we still have to go in ending the race-based disparities that exist in our economy.
Despite Africans constituting the majority of the economically active population, the majority of top management positions in the private sector are still held by white males. This trend is observed at senior management level in nearly every economic category. Black South Africans are predominantly in the semi-skilled and unskilled categories.
While there has been much improvement since the advent of employment equity legislation, it is clear that not enough has been done to change the racial composition of the ownership, control and management of our economy.
Employment equity is not the only area where challenges remain. The International Labour Organisation has highlighted problems of compliance with labour laws in South Africa, as well as inadequate safeguards for workers in the burgeoning informal sector.
That is why part of our G20 Presidency involves engagements with labour over the consolidation of worker rights. We have held fruitful discussions in this regard with the International Trade Union Confederation and others.
Despite these challenges, as a country we will continue to use our progressive labour laws to correct the imbalances of the past, and to ensure that these protections translate into tangible benefits for workers.
We call on business in particular to take the necessary measures to ensure that their workplaces reflect both the letter and spirit of laws such as the Labour Relations Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Employment Equity Act and Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Companies should go beyond compliance by actively fostering diversity and inclusion as envisaged in our Constitution by addressing historical inequalities and create opportunities for under-represented groups among their workers, such as women, the youth and persons with disabilities. They should also ensure that their workplaces are spaces where dignity, respect and human rights are upheld in daily practice and not just in policies.
At a time when our singular focus is on inclusive economic growth and job creation, we must continue to work together to improve the lives of every South African worker. Let us use the hard-won gains of workers to create new opportunities for all.
South Africa commemorates Freedom Month in April to mark the transition from the oppressive apartheid regime to a free democratic country, and to reflect on the first democratic elections on 27 April 1994 that gave birth to our constitutional democracy.
This year’s Freedom Month will be commemorated under the theme “United in Resilience for The Defence of Our Freedom and Democracy”. The official national Freedom Day event will be celebrated on 27 April 2025 at AJ Swanepoel Stadium, Ermelo in Mpumalanga province.
H.E. The President of the General Assembly, Ambassador Philémon Yang, Your Excellences, Permanent Representatives to the United Nations, Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen
Let me express my gratitude and that of my delegation for this opportunity to brief the United Nations General Assembly on the priorities of South Africa’s G20 Presidency, a historical first for the African continent.
In July 2005, President Nelson Mandela said “As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest. We shall never forget how millions of people around the world joined us in solidarity to fight the injustice of our oppression. Those efforts paid off and we are able to stand here and join the millions around the world in support of freedom against poverty”.
These ideals mentioned by former President Mandela resonate with our chosen theme for our G20 Presidency “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability”.
Thus South Africa has a moral obligation and responsibility to advance these ideals.
We indeed take our cue from General Assembly resolution 71/327, entitled ‘The United Nations in Global Economic Governance’ adopted on 11 September 2017, where the General Assembly, amongst others, “welcomed the practice of informal engagement between the United Nations and intergovernmental groupings that make policy recommendations or take policy decisions with global implications, including the Group of 20 (G20), through informal briefings organised at the initiative of the President of the General Assembly”.
As the resolution quite correctly stipulates, the purpose of this interaction is to amongst others, “promote transparency and coherence as well as strengthening mutual understanding and cooperation in matters of global economic governance”.
Let me from the onset reiterate that for South Africa, the United Nations and its General Assembly, with its universal representation where every country participates on an equal footing, is and will always remain the chief deliberative, and policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations the community of nations, in every sphere, including in global economic governance. In this respect, the work being done in the G20, an informal grouping, seeks to support, contribute to and reinforce the reform efforts of already existing processes of the United Nations and its organs in a complimentary manner, rather than pursuing parallel processes.
The Pact of the Future, adopted at the UN’s Summit of the Future in 2024, presents a significant opportunity to revitalise global governance. South Africa is working to ensure that the actions of the Pact of the Future are integrated into the G20 agenda to ensure its full implementation. We highly appreciate the leadership role that you, the President of the General Assembly, are playing in driving Pact implementation, including the dialogue on Means of Implementation that will be held this week.
Distinguished delegates,
As we convene here today, we are amidst what the United Nations Secretary-General has referred to as a global polycrises. The interconnected nature of the threats facing humanity today, from extreme poverty and hunger to escalating geopolitical tensions and fragmentation, global warming, pandemics, energy and food insecurity, extreme poverty and inequality to rising intolerance and armed conflict, is causing further hardship and suffering, jeopardizing our collective future, particularly that of generations to come.
One of the greatest impediments to growth, development and stability is the persistence of inequality within and between countries.
Furthermore, we are in a race against time to meet the deadline that we have set for ourselves to reach the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In this address at the G20 High Level Opening Session in New York on 25 September 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa remarked that “With less than six years to go before the 2030 deadline for the achievement of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, we are at a crucial inflection point in humankind’s history. The imperative of sustainable development has become all the more crucial. It cannot be business as usual. It cannot be more platitudes and empty promises”.
In response to this dire state of the international situation that we have put forward as the theme of our G20 Presidency.
Through solidarity, we seek to achieve a future that is people-centred, development- orientated and inclusive. In an interconnected world, the challenges faced by one nation affect all nations.
By advancing equality we seek to ensure fair treatment, opportunities and advancement for all individuals and nations, irrespective of their economic status, gender, race, geographic location or other characteristics.
Sustainability is about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Interwoven in this theme is the African philosophy of Ubuntu, which underpins our leadership and vision for our G20 Presidency. The spirit of Ubuntu – the profound belief that ‘I am because we are’ – further reminds us of the interconnectedness of humanity. Likewise, our challenges can only be resolved through cooperation, collaboration and partnership, because no challenge and no triumph exists in isolation. They require responses that are inclusive and coordinated. Cooperation is our greatest strength and our most powerful weapon.
Distinguished delegates,
South Africa’s G20 priorities and deliverables are aligned to the original G20 mandate of promoting Strong, Sustainable, Balanced and Inclusive Growth.
Our four overarching priorities thus seek to address those challenges that stifle the ability of our world, in particular the Global South to achieve our desired levels of growth and development.
Firstly, we are working to strengthen disaster resilience and response.
Secondly, we are focusing on means to ensure debt sustainability for low-income countries.
Under this priority, we are also undertaking a Cost of Capital Review that is intended to deliver a comprehensive expert review on the issues impacting the cost of capital for developing economies which could help address future debt sustainability issues and the related fiscal space challenges.
Thirdly, under the priority of mobilising finance for a Just Energy Transition.
And finally, we are seeking to harness critical minerals for inclusive growth and sustainable development.
Under this priority, South Africa is also taking forward the outcomes of the 2024 report of the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals.
Distinguished delegates,
The South African Presidency of the G20 has introduced three Task Forces that will bring together role players across the Sherpa and Finance Tracks and various Working Groups. These are:
Task Force 1: on Inclusive Economic Growth, Industrialisation, Employment and Reduced Inequality.
Task Force 2: on Food Security
Task Force 3 on Artificial Intelligence, Data Governance and Innovation for Sustainable Development.
The work of this Task Force will complement the Global Digital Compact that was adopted as part of the Pact of the Future. We are pleased that the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies is one of our technical partners on this Task Force.
Additional initiatives under our Presidency include the following:
A Broadened Compact with Africa 2.0: Building on the German G20 Presidency’s Compact with Africa deliverable, South Africa will work with all G20 members to pursue a G20 broadened and effective Compact with Africa (CwA).
Review of the work of the G20: A review of the work of the G20 during its first full cycle: A Reflection on Key Achievements and the way forward, feature as one of South Africa’s deliverables
Building on the successes of the past three presidencies led by the Global South (Indonesia (2022); India (2023); and Brazil (2024)), South Africa is also, through both the Sherpa and Finance Tracks:
Championing reform of the multilateral trading system and the international financial architecture, including strengthening of multilateral development banks,
Addressing the challenge of Climate Change,
Promoting diversity, equity and inclusion,
Advocating for Gender Equality, and
Pursing enhanced international tax cooperation and addressing illicit financial
Your Excellences,
2025 will mark the 80th Anniversary of the United Nations and its lodestar document, the UN Charter, and the 20th Anniversary of the World Summit on Social Development. In South Africa, we are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Freedom Charter, which is the cornerstone of our democratic Constitution. Indeed, anniversaries provide us with the opportunity to assess progress, challenges and propose solutions relevant to the present.
South Africa strongly believes that we need to strengthen the multilateral system and enhance international cooperation to solve the complex challenges facing the world today. The erosion of multilateralism therefore presents a threat to global growth and stability, and it should be vigorously contested.
It is thus imperative that we place the respect for the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter, international law, international humanitarian law and human rights at the centre of our discussions on the global geopolitical situation.
We must also appreciate that the world today is a different place compared to what it was in 1945 when the United Nations was established. Today, most UN member states are from the developing world. We thus need to amplify the call for the UN to be reformed and made fit for purpose for today’s realities. This includes the revitalisation of the General Assembly, ECOSOC and the reform of the United Nations Security Council.
Your Excellences,
We greatly welcome the African Union’s inclusion in the G20, which is an opportunity to amplify Africa’s voice in global economic governance, whilst ensuring that the development priorities of the African Continent and the Global South find expression firmly, and permanently onto the agenda of the G20.
As a group representing 80% of the world’s population and 85% of global GDP, the G20 has a role to play in terms of providing impetus in pursuit of solutions to address some of the urgent challenges confronting humanity and the planet we share.
South Africa also notes the complementarities and synergies between our G20 Presidency, the Pact of the Future, the FfD4 process, the Second World Summit for Social Development 2025 and COP30. The G20 has held discussions on FfD4 and is considering the opportunity to contribute constructively to ambitious outcomes to close the sustainable development financing gap and reform the international financial architecture.
The United Nations and the G20 cannot work in isolation. And so, South Africa is championing cooperation, collaboration and partnerships– between countries, individuals and groups during its G20 Presidency.
There should be a collective recognition that the United Nations remains the most relevant global and international platform for tackling challenges and threats to peace and security, addressing poverty and development, and ensuring the protection of human rights.
Strengthening cooperation between the G20 and the UN is essential to foster coherence and synergy between both agendas.
The conflicts in Africa, Europe and the Middle East continue to exact a heavy human toll and heighten global insecurity. As the international community, we must continue to advocate for diplomatic solutions. Inclusive dialogue is the foremost guarantor of sustainable, lasting peace.
In line with the G20’s New Delhi Declaration, “all states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seeks territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state. The threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible”
It is our strong conviction that today’s era must be that of peace.
South Africa has showed firm resolve in its foreign policy, by promoting principles of justice, solidarity, equality, peace and respect, underpinned by its commitment to human dignity and to leaving no one behind.
We see the G20 Summit in November 2025 as a forum where cooperation and collaboration amongst global leaders will be taken to a higher level. This will be South Africa’s enduring legacy in the G20.
Let me conclude your Excellences, by reminding this august gathering of very apt remarks delivered by former President Nelson Mandela at the UN World Summit for Social Development, 20-years ago on 12 March 1995. He said:
“We are gathered here to answer one question: how does humanity cooperate to build a better life for all. If this question sounds trite in its simplicity and too familiar in its rhyme, it is because this challenge has been with us for millennia….We either rise together as humanity, or together fall”,
I thank you for your attention and look forward to engaging further.
Fair and inclusive trade is important for growth and jobs in SA
Dear Fellow South African,
Trade between nations is a vital part of economic progress.
That is why, as part of our G20 Presidency, South Africa is promoting a trade agenda in which G20 members commit to measures to promote expanded, more inclusive and more sustainable value chains.
I recently came across an inspiring story of a farmer from Elukwatini in Mpumalanga that highlights how deepening G20 trade can support the growth of local industry. In February, Bongani Thobela took part in the world’s largest fresh produce trade fair in Germany, a G20 member and the third largest market for South African exports. There he was able to meet potential buyers and has since secured an export license and sent samples of his produce to Germany and China.
He was part of an initiative by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to support local producers to attend international trade fairs and exhibitions to expose them to international markets. This reflects our conviction that greater exports of a more diverse variety of goods and service are essential for the growth of our economy and the creation of more jobs.
We are committed to measures that support industrial development and bolster the value of our exports. At the same time, we are pursuing a trade policy that uses international trade agreements to secure fairer terms, promote market access and facilitate expansion into new markets.
Developing economies such as ours are vulnerable to volatility in international trade. This is particularly the case in the face of unilateral actions and coercive measures that undermine multilateral agreements and the global rules-based trading system.
We are therefore working in different ways to make our domestic industries more resilient.
To bolster the value of our exports we are strengthening the regulatory regime. For example, last month we signed the Plant Health Act into law. This will improve domestic biosecurity and ensure there is greater alignment with international export requirements.
We are intensifying our efforts to diversify destinations for South African goods, products and services.
Last year marked a number of ‘firsts’ for South African agricultural exports. We gained access to the Thailand market for apples for the first time in 16 years and exported our first container of avocados to Japan. This month we also gained market access for South African table grapes to the Philippines.
We are deepening relations with countries and regions with which we have regional and bilateral trade agreements that provide preferential trade terms. These include the Southern African Customs Union and the Southern African Development Community Free Trade Area.
We are working to make effective use of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Last year, we commenced trading under the AfCFTA. A shipment of ‘Made in SA’ consumer goods, copper, cement, electrical and pharmaceutical goods and fresh produce left the port of Durban for markets elsewhere on the continent.
At last month’s European Union-South Africa Summit in Cape Town we signed a trade and investment package worth around R90 billion. This package will support the export of more SA-made products into the EU.
We are increasing investment in domestic industries that contribute to exports. The 2025 Budget allocates increased funding to boost manufacturing and agro-processing, as well as for incentive programmes that strengthen local value chains and open access to key international markets.
As we undertake all these measures, South Africa will continue to advocate for a level playing field in global trade.
Trade must remain free, predictable and governed by a rules-based system. This is particularly critical for developing economies, many of which remain locked into the lower end of global value chains.
South Africa endorses the reform process underway within the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that seeks to address deficiencies in the global trade regime that work against developing economies.
South Africa remains committed to maintaining favourable relations with existing trade partners and to forging new trade relationships.
As Government, business and labour, we will continue to deepen our collaboration as we navigate a global trade environment that has become increasingly complex.
Our ultimate goal is to secure favourable trade terms that advance our national interest, drive inclusive growth and create jobs for the South African people.
