Issues on the agenda at the G20 finance meeting in South Africa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has sought to leverage Africa's first G20 presidency to promote an African agenda, with topics including the high cost of capital and climate change.
Here are the key issues to be discussed:
DEBT STRESS
Nearly two dozen countries in Africa are in or at high risk of debt distress, the International Monetary Fund said. Debt-servicing costs crowd out spending on services such as infrastructure development, health and education.
Launched in late 2020, the G20 Common Framework is a platform aimed at speeding up and simplifying the process of getting overstretched countries back on their feet, but progress has been slow.
Making the platform more efficient is one target for South Africa. Ramaphosa launched an Africa expert panel in March whose role is to galvanise efforts, chief among them debt relief.
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This statement, which has been published three weeks after the visit, uses the excuse of the flag previously mentioned in the ANC press release concerning the visit of the previous Head of State to criticise the presence of the latter in Morocco. Indeed, the hypersensitivity of DIRCO and its unusual and exaggerated reaction raise several questions about the priorities of Foreign Policy in our country, especially during these tough times. Amidst the recent punitive Trump Tariffs, the focus should be to mend the trade relationship to assert the economic diplomacy plan that was adopted by DIRCO, DTIC and the Ministry of Finance. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Nonetheless, DIRCO took time among these huge trade problems with the USA that threaten our national interest to publish a press release concerning the visit of the former Head of State. This is not the first trip undertaken by Jacob Zuma as the former head of state outside of South Africa. 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The South African Party published, nearly two months ago, a detailed document named 'A strategic Partnership for African Unity, Economic Emancipation and Territorial Integrity: Morocco', in which it detailed its stance concerning Morocco and the Western Sahara conflict In this document, Umkhonto WeSizwe stated that: 'Commitment to sovereignty: Morocco's efforts to reclaim its full territorial integrity align with the MK Party's commitment to preserving the sovereignty and unity of African states. This resonates more than ever with South Africa as our country battles against internal forces aiming at breaking our country's territorial integrity. Thus, MK party remains steadfast in defending the territorial integrity of South Africa as a sacrosanct principle of its foreign policy'. This statement of MK brought to light the inexistence of a consensus concerning the issue of Western Sahara among the political sphere in South Africa. It is also worth recalling that when the ANC reacted to the position expressed by MK concerning Western Sahara citing 'the right of Self-determination of Western Sahara', the separatist movement 'cape independence' published, on the 20th July 2025, a tweet saying:' Hypocrisy Alert! ANC pushes for Western Sahara independence while denying Western Cape & other SA groups the same right to self-determination. What's good for one isn't good for all?'. Coming back to the issue of the flag, well-informed cadres among the MK party said that 'The South African flag displayed during Mr. Zuma's visit was done at his express request, as a gesture of honour and respect for his position as a previous Head of State'. Moreover, it is universal practice for national flags to be present in nongovernmental contexts and engagements: sporting competitions, cultural events, civil forums, etc, added the cadres of MK. Thus, the DIRCO statement raises the issue of the use of the national flag by South African citizens, organisations and political parties in General. Expressing concerns over this issue, the spokesperson of MK, M. Nhlamulo Ndhlela, said that 'Mbalula, on his visit in 2023 in Algeria, had a national flag of South Africa in a picture taken with him and the foreign minister of Algeria and DIRCO said nothing. Why now? The ANC and its GNU do not own the South African flag; it belongs to South Africans, and President Zuma is a South African, and a former head of state'. On the details of Zuma's trip to Morocco, IOL was able to confirm that the visit was prepared with the involvement of the South African Embassy in Rabat, which officially asked the Moroccan authorities to grant Mr. Zuma protocol treatment. Under these conditions, some experts contacted by IOL declared that it is 'totally contradictory for the South African authorities to request that Mr. Zuma be treated as a high dignitary, only to criticise the use of the South African flag during his visit'. It is worth noting that all the previous Heads of state in South Africa, when they undertake a trip abroad, are asked to communicate all the details of their trip to the State protocol, who then inform DIRCO to take all the measures to coordinate with the relevant authorities of the country all the aspects of the visit including the protocol. The aspects raised above are just a reflection of the existing deep disagreement of different South African political parties with the ANC's foreign policy, which has sparked a big debate about the national foreign policy of South Africa and the actual existence of a consensus around its priorities. Indeed, the DA, which is a partner of the ANC in the GNU, has undertaken, in March 2025, a trip to the USA, which was officially communicated by the previous DA Spokesperson on International Relations & Cooperation, Mrs Emma Powell, in total contradiction with the official position expressed by the South African Government and DIRCO.
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