
G20 Development Working Group kicks off 3rd meeting coinciding with Africa Day
Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Maropane Ramokgopa, kicked off the meeting, calling for renewed global solidarity to tackle pressing development challenges.
Over the next three days, delegates will deliberate on three key priority areas, including strengthening domestic resource mobilisation through curbing illicit financial flows, advancing social protection systems, and supporting access to global public goods.
ALSO READ: Water and sanitation dept preparing to reopen the Lesotho Highlands Water Project tunnel
Ramokgopa underscored the importance of policy coherence, welcoming the DWG's coordination with other G20 workstreams.
"These are vital linkages that reinforce the G20's unique position as a platform that bridges development, finance and global governance. As we embark on this important work, I want to remind us all that what we do here matters. Our negotiations over the next few days are about the livelihoods of billions of people around the world, and the kind of future we collectively wish to shape."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

The Herald
an hour ago
- The Herald
SA will seek new markets for minerals if US imposes high tariffs: Mantashe
South Africa will need to seek out alternative markets for its critical minerals exports if the US hits the country with steep tariffs, said mineral and petroleum resources minister Gwede Mantashe on Tuesday. South Africa is by far the world's leading producer of platinum group metals (PGMs), which are used in car catalytic converters and are among critical minerals subject to a US investigation that could result in new import levies. Washington launched that probe in part to pressure Beijing. China is a top global producer of 30 of the 50 minerals considered critical by the US Geological Survey and has been curtailing exports. 'If the US imposes high tariffs, we must look for alternative markets,' said Mantashe on the sidelines of a G20 meeting on critical minerals. South African exports of mineral products and precious metals to the US were valued at R65.3bn ($3.64bn) last year. PGMs, largely produced by miners Valterra Platinum and Impala Platinum, accounted for 76.3% of that total. Other South African exports to the US — its second-biggest bilateral trading partner after China — include gold, diamonds, iron and manganese ores, and coal. 'We should never be bullied for our own resources. If people want to trade with us, it must be on terms that are mutually beneficial,' Mantashe said. As President Donald Trump has sought to leverage tariff threats to reshape global trade, South Africa has had a fraught relationship with his administration, which has attacked its domestic race policy and its genocide case against Israel. South Africa's exports to the US are facing the prospect of a 30% baseline tariff from August 1, though PGMs are currently excluded from those levies. Pretoria is awaiting a response from Washington to a counterproposal it submitted last month in hopes of avoiding the 30% rate, South African officials said on Monday. Reuters

TimesLIVE
4 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
SA will seek new markets for minerals if US imposes high tariffs: Mantashe
South Africa will need to seek out alternative markets for its critical minerals exports if the US hits the country with steep tariffs, said mineral and petroleum resources minister Gwede Mantashe on Tuesday. South Africa is by far the world's leading producer of platinum group metals (PGMs), which are used in car catalytic converters and are among critical minerals subject to a US investigation that could result in new import levies. Washington launched that probe in part to pressure Beijing. China is a top global producer of 30 of the 50 minerals considered critical by the US Geological Survey and has been curtailing exports. 'If the US imposes high tariffs, we must look for alternative markets,' said Mantashe on the sidelines of a G20 meeting on critical minerals. South African exports of mineral products and precious metals to the US were valued at R65.3bn ($3.64bn) last year. PGMs, largely produced by miners Valterra Platinum and Impala Platinum, accounted for 76.3% of that total. Other South African exports to the US — its second-biggest bilateral trading partner after China — include gold, diamonds, iron and manganese ores, and coal. 'We should never be bullied for our own resources. If people want to trade with us, it must be on terms that are mutually beneficial,' Mantashe said. As President Donald Trump has sought to leverage tariff threats to reshape global trade, South Africa has had a fraught relationship with his administration, which has attacked its domestic race policy and its genocide case against Israel. South Africa's exports to the US are facing the prospect of a 30% baseline tariff from August 1, though PGMs are currently excluded from those levies. Pretoria is awaiting a response from Washington to a counterproposal it submitted last month in hopes of avoiding the 30% rate, South African officials said on Monday.


The Citizen
14 hours ago
- The Citizen
South African flair in the face of adversity
Joburg's crumbling infrastructure highlights how public-private partnerships and individual ingenuity keep the city moving. Public-private partnerships (PPP) are the current panaceas, the road map to our much-delayed New Jerusalem, but while our leaders are painting castles in the sky, there are many happening right under our noses. Sandton is Africa's richest square mile by any metric, but that's not so obvious at night. There are no traffic lights up Sandton Drive (or is that Leila Khaled Drive?) if you've been able to successfully make it down Winnie Mandela Drive (the old William Nicol) where the traffic lights do work but are now ignored. If it were not for all the businesses and illuminated billboards, the area would be in total darkness, but Eskom isn't load shedding. Thanks to the G20 being hosted in Sandton later this year, the potholes are being fixed with a vengeance, but it's still a nightmare for the workers who travel in taxis in the wee hours of the morning to get to work. ALSO READ: Government-business partnership to accelerate delivery – BLSA Not one of them has reflective gear on, which is understandable given the kind of work they are going to, but self-defeating when you consider the risks they take alighting from taxis sho't lefting in the gloom of the murk before dawn. (There's another potential PPP; designing and selling an entire range of affordable clothing with reflective strips because it's not just school kids and miners who work in perilous environments). The City of Joburg has got away with murder for years. We have been bamboozled by the merry-go-round of mayors and their MMCs, to the extent that the haves in the north have simply dug boreholes, installed JoJo tanks and solar panels, paid their medical aid and outsourced their security. The problem comes in, though, when they have to leave their castles and slum it with the rest of us, especially in the early morning. It's nothing compared to the state of the Post Office. ALSO READ: Public-private partnership: key to infrastructure transformation Pep Stores has a bigger footprint and delivers more parcels accordingly, maybe they should be paying the Sassa grants out too. Renewing your car licence at the post office is a gamble, it's best to download the form beforehand, or else get it from one of the unofficial service providers lurking outside, who can also photocopy your ID card and sell you a black ball pen before you enter – if the post office is open. PPPs aren't new, they're happening everywhere – typical South African ingenuity in the face of (official) adversity.