MEDIA RELEASE
2025-11-28

SUMMARY: The Labour Party of South Africa (Labour Party) has criticised the G20 Leader’s Declaration as being underwhelming. The Party critiques the resulting Leader’s Declaration stating that it remains broad, voluntary, and insufficiently responsive to the real needs of developing countries like South Africa. The Party holds that the Summit’s success will ultimately depend not on the document itself but on whether its proposals translate into meaningful, tangible change for South Africans.

On 22 and 23 November 2025 South Africa made history by being the first country in Africa to host the G20 Summit. Gathered in Johannesburg under the South African G20 Presidency, world leaders agreed to the Leader’s Declaration. The agreement addresses global challenges which impede the shared goal of achieving ‘solidarity, equality, and sustainability’ in the spirit of Ubuntu.

Despite the preceding turbulence, some would argue that the Summit was a success, demonstrating the continent’s capacity and ability to host global forums.

For South Africans at least, the success of the Summit and the subsequent Leader’s Declaration cannot be measured solely by reading the Declaration.

“After reading the Declaration one must ask why South Africa is part of the G20, even though it is the largest economy in Africa, where is the wealth of South Africa if South Africa is also the most unequal country in the world?” , noted Joseph Mathunjwa, interim President of the Labour Party.The tone of the Declaration is by its nature inclusive, broad, and not detailed, providing an overview of proposed measures and frameworks to address major global challenges.

It is no wonder that the Leader’s Declaration is underwhelming.

Despite South Africa’s assertion of power during the Summit, and with the handing over of the Declaration at the DIRCO offices in Pretoria, the tone of the Leader’s Declaration, against the backdrop of South Africa’s local governance crisis, is underwhelming.

“This is the irony. Millions are spent to produce a voluntary and non-binding 30-page document. But the real issue is not only whether the recommendations are adopted, but whether they have a tangible positive impact on the lives of South Africans” , said Mathunjwa.

The first G20 Leaders’ Summit was held in November 2008. Since then, the subtly written agenda of trade liberalisation has in reality blatantly disadvantaged developing economies with limited industrial capacity.

In the first ever G20 Leader’s Declaration it states under the Commitment to an Open Global Economy “We recognize that these reforms will only be successful if grounded in a commitment to free market principles, including the rule of law, respect for private property, open trade and investment, competitive markets, and efficient, effectively regulated financial systems. These principles are essential to economic growth and prosperity and have lifted millions out of poverty, and have significantly raised the global standard of living. Recognizing the necessity to improve financial sector regulation, we must avoid over-regulation that would hamper economic growth and exacerbate the contraction of capital flows, including to developing countries.”

In the 2025 Leader’s Declaration, even where inclusive growth is mentioned, there is no commitment to empowering domestic industrial policies or supporting localisation drives in countries like South Africa. Whereas in fact, there is a clear determination to increase extraction and exports of African minerals to the rest of the world, with only an on-paper commitment to develop producer countries.

The text prioritises open markets over strategic investment in labour-intensive manufacturing or protective measures for infant industries. Structural inequalities embedded in global trade relationships are acknowledged, but remain unchallenged.

The same structural inequalities that exist in global trade relationships are intensified by the global debt architecture that keeps developing countries trapped in cycles of austerity and dependency.

There is no move toward meaningful debt cancellation or accountability for rating agencies and global lenders that impose pro-cyclical conditions. This is despite the 2008 G20 Declaration expressly condemning pro-cyclicality in regulatory policy and advocating for its mitigation.

“It was not long ago that a 30% tariff was imposed on South Africa by the US. How then can we blanketly accept this Declaration as a kumbaya moment?” , asked Mathunjwa.

The Declaration also acknowledges beneficiation and localisation at a high level but is silent on what the focus on critical raw materials will mean for many African countries like South Africa.

For example, South Africa holds the largest reservoirs of platinum group metals (PGMs), with over 80% of the globe’s reserves. With the rise of AI and digitisation, South Africa becomes a prime location for extensive exploration and extraction. Without meaningful development this will run producer economies like South Africa dry, poor and unequal.

The Declaration makes no mention of concrete commitments to worker upskilling, decent work, or labour-intensive beneficiation, which is in fact synonymous with the investment and focus on AI and digitisation.

South Africa’s economy was built and is still sustained by mining and extractive industries, the push toward AI and digitisation in such critical industries will reduce production cost while increasing yield. This will ultimately render manual labour redundant.

“This is already happening. We have spoken against the profit margin and super profit-led retrenchments and mine closures across South Africa that only worsen unemployment and inequality” , argued Mathunjwa.

The Declaration acknowledges the mobilisation of finance for a just energy transition. These approaches have historically privileged multinational corporations and wealthier economies, while passing transition risks onto developing countries.

The Declaration does not address Africa’s unique energy constraints, the cost of transitioning from coal-dependent systems, or the reality that millions still lack universal energy access.

“We have been saying for years now, when it comes to the issue of climate and carbon footprint, the focus is on the Global South, while countries with larger carbon footprints are in the West and North. If we are to transition, let it not only be just, but also on our own terms” , noted Mathunjwa.

“Honestly, South Africa was just a venue for G20. For it to be a success and not a wastefor South Africans, the voluntary commitments in the Declaration must be adopted and progressively realised through targeted, results-driven implementation. South Africans are watching”, concluded Mathunjwa.

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