The Treasury has told departments and institutions involved in the Group of 20 (G20) to focus spending on “high-impact initiatives” to reduce costs associated with SA’s presidency of the bloc, with departments expected to fund activities by reprioritising current budgets.
In its funding guidelines the Treasury reminded departments that SA’s fiscal environment is tight and that departments unable to fund G20 activities through reprioritisation have received supplementary funding through the 2024 adjusted estimates of national expenditure to offset the G20 funding shortfall in 2024/25.
“The 2025 fiscal framework has made provisional allocations for G20 funding for selected departments to be announced during the 2025 budget. Allocations will prioritise specialised or centralised functions like policing and communication as these are crucial for state security, public order and achieving consistency in key messaging on the G20,” the guidelines read.
“The functions pertaining to policing will be exclusively provided by the police department, while communication will require a collaborative effort among stakeholder departments and agencies such as the Government Communication and Information System, department of international relations & cooperation, National Treasury and the presidency.
The funding for communication is intended to supplement the existing baseline allocations of departments for G20.”
SA’s G20 presidency began in December, with the US next in line when SA’s presidency ends in November.
SA is the third consecutive Brics member to assume the leadership of the bloc, after India and Brazil, whose tenure ended at the end of November 2024.
The AU was accepted as a permanent G20 member at the bloc’s summit in New Delhi in 2023. The bloc brings together the world’s largest economies including the US, China, Japan, France and Germany.
SA’s G20 presidency got off to a bad start last week with top US diplomat Marco Rubio saying he would not attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the G20 group of countries in Johannesburg later this month, accusing Pretoria of “anti-Americanism”.
Trump has also cut off aid to SA — casting further doubt on whether the US will participate in G20 activities while SA has the bloc’s presidency.
The Treasury has told departments to prioritise the use of state-owned facilities for conferencing, and that “only if these facilities are inadequate or deemed unsuitable for G20 gatherings should commercial facilities be considered”.
It said SAA would partner with the state as its official air travel logistics partner for the G20 presidency. “The nature of the partnership, terms and conditions of the partnership will be detailed in the agreement to be concluded by the department of international relations & co-operation with SAA. Transfers to and from airports, from initial points of entry, will be at G20 delegates’ and participants’ own costs arranged through their sending government, institution or international organisation and will not be borne by the SA government.”
The Enoch Godongwana-led department instructed departments to report all G20 funding and sponsorships to it.
“Government institutions involved in sponsorship must adhere to sound financial management as envisaged in the Public Finance Management Act, and ensure they assess potential conflicts of interest and risk exposures as part of their due diligence in any sponsorship arrangement,” it said.
“Sponsors and donors may include multilateral and domestic corporations, financial institutions, intergovernmental agencies, regional and continental developmental agencies, international organisations, foundations, individuals, philanthropies, nonprofit organisations, and G20 member states and invited countries.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa said that he would send envoys across the world to explain SA’s position on foreign policy matters, including spelling out the country’s objectives during its presidency of the G20.
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