Former Deputy President and co-convenor of the G20 Social Summit, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, has issued a call to action to forge a new path for Africa while harnessing its natural endowments.
Mlambo-Ngcuka was speaking during the opening ceremony of the summit held at the Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng on Tuesday.
“Africa is not poor. It has more than 50% of the world’s arable land so we shouldn’t be having poverty and hunger. Africa is not poor. We should be able to industrialise because we have 30% of the world’s critical minerals. If Africa is not doing well, it is because we are not providing leadership.
“So, in these three days…all of us should look at how we start the new order with each one of us taking the responsibility to lead, governments, civil society, business and institutions. It is only when we lead together with purpose, that we’ll give birth to the Africa we want, the Africa we dream of,” she asserted.
The summit brings together a diverse range of formal and informal networks, including youth movements, women’s organisations, faith-based groups, organisations of persons with disabilities, community forums, and other grassroots structures who will deliberate on global issues that directly impact people’s daily lives.
“In planning the G20 Social [Summit], we wanted to make sure that in the deliberations…we come with initiatives that will be sustainable. We wanted to make sure that since this G20 is in Africa…it must [have] initiatives that will impact significantly on Africans.
“We as Africans must make sure that these are things we can do without dependency on many other contributors. Yes, we welcome solidarity but at the end of the day, we should take the responsibility for making changes,” she said.
A summit for all
The co-convenor reflected on South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 and its promise to leave no-one behind.
“When South Africa assumed the Presidency of the G20 during the [Leaders’] Summit held in Brazil in 2024, our President [Cyril Ramaphosa] made a promise that this Social Summit will continue.
“That in South Africa, we will host the Social Summit because we believe in the voices of civil society. We acknowledge that [the] programme would be nothing without the lived experience of those people…the people who, in many of our countries, make it possible for us to live and lead from day to day.”
She emphasised the importance of the outcomes of the summit, as a declaration is expected to be handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa at the conclusion of the summit on Thursday.
“The outcomes of this summit must support the last five remaining years of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. We must also support the vision that is enshrined in [African Union] Agenda 2063.
“All of these has to be reflected in the choices that we make and the recommendations that we make. I would also want to encourage you to think about what will happen next year. How will we ensure that what we’ve decided here will not be lost along the way?
“We must ensure that we have provided a cushion for the Social Summit so that at some point, it can reemerge in the format that we want to continue to grow,” Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
Deputy President Paul Mashatile addressed the opening of the summit where he urged global leaders to recognise the significant impact of their decisions on humanity’s future.
READ | Deputy President calls for collective action, sustainability at G20 Social Summit
– SAnews.gov.za
