South Africa’s G20 Presidency: Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability—a Conversation with Japan
South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile spoke on his nation’s current G20 presidency and denied white farmers are being murdered during illegal land grabs. Speaking on March 18 at the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo for a symposium entitled “South Africa’s G20 Presidency: Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability—a Conversation with Japan,” he pledged SA would provide a crucial platform to prioritize the development needs of Africa and the Global South, just five years before the deadline for achieving the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “South Africa wants to be a key player in collaboration and inclusivity to achieve sustainable development and balanced trade.”
Answering questions the next day at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, he admitted that Japanese government officials had expressed their concern at the time it was taking to appoint a new SA ambassador to Japan following the departure of the last one in late 2024.
He spoke of the increasing number of SA rugby players in Japan and a new e-visa system to help tourists, students and businesspeople as examples of recent improvements for better bilateral exchanges.
“The world faces several mega trends of globalisation, geopolitics, instability, climate change, rising nationalism, demographic changes, tech convergence, conflict, war hardship and suffering,” he said.
He said his three main priorities are:
- Combating the effects of natural disasters
- Ensuring debt stability for developing economies
- Mobilising finance for energy transition
On domestic reforms to reduce trade barriers in SA, he pointed to the sectors of transport, exports, skills transfer and tourism to boost exports. “AI will transform sectors such as healthcare and transport to create new opportunities while reducing others.”
A panel chaired by UNU Rector Tshilidzi Marwala and SA ministers of sport, art, culture, higher education, agriculture, trade and industry discussed the 2024 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Report which found that only 17% of SDG targets were on track to be achieved by 2030, highlighting the urgent need for greater resources and transformative progress, particularly for nations in the Global South.
Key issues debated included: What are South Africa’s key goals during its G20 presidency? How can Japan and South Africa collaborate to accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda? What steps are needed to ensure solidarity, equality and sustainability for all?
“South Africa’s G20 Presidency aims to drive a paradigm shift, accelerating the implementation of solutions and policies that advance the 2030 Agenda. Key priorities include sustainable financing for development and climate action, addressing the debt burden of countries in the Global South, food security and harnessing the transformative potential of artificial intelligence,” a statement said.