The upcoming Group of 20 (G20) Leaders’ Summit, scheduled for November 2025 at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg, holds significant historical importance.
This is according to the Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who emphasised the venue’s symbolism of South Africa’s journey from apartheid segregation to democratic unity.
Ntshavheni was briefing the media on the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, 28 May 2025.
Nasrec (the National Agricultural, Sports and Recreation Events Centre), built in 1984 during the height of apartheid, was originally positioned at the boundary between Johannesburg and Soweto, symbolising the stark racial divisions of the past.
Situated between the developed city and Soweto, which has historically served as a reservoir of cheap labour, the Minister said that Nasrec now represents the democratic government’s vision of spatial reintegration and equal development.
“The democratic government continues to develop the Nasrec precinct to serve as a bridge against the apartheid spatial planning divide that separated the developed and undeveloped South Africa, which remains a true South African characterisation of two countries in one,” Ntshavheni said.
Today, the venue serves as a powerful metaphor for national reconciliation, with the developments around the Nasrec precinct as a smart city, which also hosts the FNB Stadium known as Soccer City.
“Soccer City, which hosted the first soccer World Cup match on African soil, is amongst the top 20 largest stadiums in the world. Therefore, the hosting of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, like many other events, in the Nasrec precinct continues to contribute to making Nasrec a symbol of spatial integration towards an equal South Africa.”
Meanwhile, she said the G20 Summit represents more than just a diplomatic gathering but a testament to South Africa’s ongoing journey of healing, unity, and national transformation.
She told the journalists that South Africa will soon unveil its G20 Social Summit plan and programme.
The G20 Social Summit initiative is part of the programme adopted from the Brazil G20 Initiatives, which created a platform for social movements and civil society organisations that are impacted by geopolitical and macroeconomic decisions made by leaders of the powerful G20 countries.
Ntshavheni said meetings are being held across the country as part of the ongoing G20 content preparations.
The summit is scheduled for November 2025, promising to be a landmark event in the country’s international diplomatic calendar. – SAnews.gov.za
