SA’s year as G20 president has finally come around. A series of high-level ministerial meetings kicks off in Cape Town and Johannesburg later this month. With more than 130 official meetings, culminating in the G20 leaders summit in November, it will be a busy year.
It will also be a costly one. The Treasury has put the cost at upwards of R1bn; some estimates put it closer to R2bn. That is small change in a national budget of R2-trillion. But given SA’s stretched public finances, funding will be an issue.
The government hasn’t helped with its insistence on bringing the G20 to all parts of SA. The objective is laudable. However, many of SA’s smaller cities and towns do not have the resources or facilities to host such complex events. The government needs to ensure that foreign visitors take away a good impression of SA and that we put on a respectable show. But we need to keep it simple.
The Treasury has told departments and other public entities hosting events to find the resources within their own budgets. That will provide some discipline and will be a stretch given all the calls on their budgets.
The finance minister has also asked the private sector, particularly the banks, to offer their facilities — as Investec lavishly did for the preparatory meetings in December. There too, resources are not unlimited and the government must take care not to overexploit its much-vaunted relationship with the private sector. It is possible to play host effectively and hospitably without excessive spending. The government must focus on fundamentals, not frills, and tailor SA’s G20 to its resources.
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