South Africa will not participate in the Group of 20 (G20) finance track. The G20 is set to take place in the US next year.
In response to a question on the sidelines of a government–business breakfast ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, finance minister Enoch Godongwana confirmed to Business Day that South Africa had not been invited to participate in the finance track.
“We don’t need an invite, but [The US] is not accrediting us,” he said. “We’re not going because they’re not accrediting us.”
A G20 host nation manages attendance at the physical summit through the accreditation and visa process, which serves as an administrative tool to control access to the event. However, such decisions do not alter a country’s legal status or permanent membership within the G20.
While South Africa has not received any formal communication confirming its exclusion from the G20, the US state department has publicly stated that the country will be excluded, with Poland invited in its place — a move that South Africa, a founding member of the G20, has condemned. The first sherpa meeting of the US’s G20 presidency is scheduled for December 15 in Washington.
On Monday, government and business leaders gathered in Sandton to discuss the message South Africa will take to the WEF annual meeting taking place in Davos in January. The theme is “A Spirit of Dialogue”. South Africa will send a delegation, including a couple of ministers.
In a brief opening address, Godongwana said South Africa was in “a positive mood”, having exited the greylist, tabled the medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS), received a credit rating upgrade from S&P Global Ratings, and hosted the G20 summit.
“We’re taking two things to Davos,” Godongwana said: “Marketing the country and networking.” To the media, he said: “South Africa is ready for business.”
Trade, industry and competition minister Parks Tau told the media he had met his Australian counterpart. “The first question they asked was, ‘When are we signing a trade agreement?’” Tau said. “This is a message we’ve received from countries across the board — [they are] ready to trade with South Africa.”
Transport minister Barbara Creecy said there was “significant evidence that the largest logistics reform in the century is already achieving results”.
“We’re moving 174-million tonnes of freight on the Transnet network this year. We’re loading and unloading ships in 60 hours, close to the international benchmark of 50 hours.”
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