SA G20 presidency will not be a ‘talk shop’ – Ronald Lamola

Department of International Relations & Cooperation (Dirco) Minister Ronald Lamola has assured South Africans that the country’s G20 presidency will not be a “talk shop”.

Lamola said South Africa would play an interactive role in mitigating world challenges.

There is currently global uncertainty, a polarised world with wars in the Middle East, reports of a possible nuclear war and even trade and industry becoming a threat of war.

G20 presidency

Ramaphosa officially launched South Africa’s presidency of the G20 in Parliament on Tuesday morning.

South Africa assumed the presidency of the G20 on 1 December, taking over from Brazil.

Lamola told 702 that the G20 presidency is a very “impactful forum and platform” and not just another forum when there is so little consensus about substantive issues among many nations.

“We obviously will have to navigate these challenging difficult geopolitical issues as we host — and Brazil and India did the same. You cannot take the fast-moving train in a geopolitical situation.

“As we come in as South Africa, one of the key working groups and projects that we will undertake is the review of the last 20 years of the G20, what has been the impact. It is also going to be more of an implementation platform and also of assisting,” Lamola said.

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US antagonism

With the US expected to take over the G20 presidency from South Africa in 2025, Ramaphosa said he does not believe US president-elect Donald Trump will be able to derail Pretoria’s G20 agenda when it takes over next year.

Given the consternation that South Africa has seen from the US congress on the country’s relationship with the US and Trump as the new president, South Africa has to navigate difficult hurdles with major issues like the Gaza and Ukraine war and its stance of non-alignment.

Lamola said South Africa’s antagonism of the US will not affect the country relationship with America.

“It’s an evolving and dynamic relationship with the US and we continue to engage with Congress, the State Department and the White House. We look forward to the same with President-elect Donald Trump.

“We will continue with our policy of non-alignment of playing a role in global affairs. As a developing country, we can’t afford to align with either of the big superpowers. We will continue to determine our own domestic policies,” Lamola said.

Santon Drive

With Sandton Drive’s possible name change to Leila Khaled, Lamola said national government is engaging with the City of Johannesburg on the matter.

“It has its own internal processes… We will also engage with the City of Johannesburg to take some of these matters forward including the fact that they will be hosting the G20 in Gauteng.

The African National Congress (ANC) in Gauteng is pushing for the renaming of Sandton Drive to Leila Khaled Drive to honour the struggle of the people of Palestine in their ongoing battle with Israel.

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