South Africa prepared to host G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting

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South Africa prepared to host G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting

11:29 CAT | 18 Feb 2025

File photo: Business Live

South Africa says it is entirely prepared for the G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting scheduled for Thursday and Friday this week, in the city of Johannesburg.

The holding of this meeting takes place during the South African presidency of the G20, the
forum for international economic cooperation created in 1999.

For now, the absence of the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who accuses Pretoria of
following an anti-American policy, is all but certain.

Conversely, the heads of diplomacy from Russia and China will be present, as well as the
Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres.

From the outset, Pretoria has made it clear that it sees the G20 presidency as an opportunity to place the needs of the African continent and the rest of the Global South more firmly on the international development agenda.

The South African Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, highlighted
that this is an opportunity for the global community, especially the heads of G20 diplomacy,
to exchange views on issues related to current geopolitics.

Lamola downplays the fact that the meeting takes place amid diplomatic tensions between
Pretoria and Washington.

"We are indeed concerned about these issues, but we continue to interact with Washington
to find friendly solutions," he said. "This exit is our first preference. But, we have to be realistic so that if our first preference does not come true, we have to prepare for all other scenarios. Reality shows us that within these scenarios there may also be opportunities for the African continent to move towards self-sustainability. We maintain our openness, especially because we look at relations with the United States from the point of view of mutual benefits and we want to continue with good bilateral commercial cooperation and undertake other political mechanisms that we have."

The motto of this meeting is: "Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability". After the meeting of heads of diplomacy in Johannesburg, Cape Town will host the meeting of G20 Finance Ministers.

It is our understanding that the US treasury secretary has confirmed his presence.

Source: RM Johannesburg