G20 Summit | SA basks in praise following landmark G20 Summit - Zane Dangor weighs in

The article is a transcript of an SABC interview with Zayn Dangle, Director General of South Africa's Department of International Relations, discussing South Africa's successful hosting of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg. Dangle highlights that all South African priorities—food security, disaster risk reduction, and global trade—were incorporated into the leaders' declaration, marking a substantive success. The event involved over 130 meetings and a whole-of-government effort in logistics, communications, and security. Although the G20 is an informal grouping with non-binding agreements, Dangle emphasizes its influence on binding multilateral forums like COP and ECOSOC, fostering accountability through peer pressure among influential nations. A key outcome is the first-ever G20 agreement on beneficiating critical minerals at source, benefiting Africa and developing countries. He addresses implementation challenges, noting risks from domestic pressures in democracies but stressing the difficulty leaders face in reneging on public commitments. South Africa initiated the 'G20 at 20' review, opting to maintain informality for flexible engagement while enhancing accountability mechanisms, such as tracking progress on issues like progressive taxation. Regarding the upcoming US presidency under Trump, Dangle anticipates a scaled-down agenda focused on deregulation and narrow growth, but South Africa has 'future-proofed' initiatives like inequality reports through institutions like the UNECA and World Bank. Continuity is preserved via core issues like climate change, with hopes for revival under future presidencies (UK in 2026, South Korea in 2027). On US-South Africa relations, strained by US misconceptions of South Africa's transformation agenda, Dangle affirms full G20 participation and ongoing bilateral/multilateral dialogue to explain constitutional imperatives like addressing inequality.