Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, has made an urgent call for inclusive economic transformation that places women at the centre of key value chains.
The Minister was delivering a keynote address at the Third Technical Meeting of the G20 Empowerment of Women Working Group (EWWG), currently underway in Skukuza Conference Centre, Kruger National Park, in Mpumalanga.
From the roar of coal turbines at Kusile and Kendal, to the citrus farms of Nkomazi and the tourism magnetism of Kruger National Park, the Minister painted a vivid picture of a province brimming with economic opportunity.
However, she cautioned that women who bear the invisible burden of care and subsistence work must be integrated meaningfully into these economic engines.
“Our task is to ensure that the energy transition, the tourism boom and the manufacturing spine you see here translate into real ownership, decent jobs and fair returns for the women who already carry this province’s invisible labour on their shoulders.
“When we speak of women’s economic empowerment over the next few days, let us remember: the dividends of energy reform and agro-processing must flow into the very hands that have long carried both unpaid care and subsistence farming,” the minister said.
The Minister asserted that this G20 moment belongs not just to South Africa, but to Africa and its people. She reaffirmed the country’s commitment to ensuring grassroots voices inform global policy.
“South Africa may chair the process, but we view this moment as Africa’s G20 and the People’s G20,” she said.
Describing Mpumalanga as the province that “powers, feeds, and connects South Africa”, the Minister said the province was chosen deliberately, highlighting its strategic location along the Maputo-Gauteng corridor and its immense contribution to regional energy, agriculture, logistics and tourism.
“Mpumalanga sits at the intersection of energy, agriculture, logistics and tourism, the very value chains in which women must now claim their full, equitable share,” she said.
Driving a Global Agenda with local impact
Under the banner of “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,” Minister Chikunga detailed the three priorities of the third Working Group as valuing the care economy - both paid and unpaid; unlocking genuine financial inclusion for women; and eradicating gender-based violence and femicide.
The Minister highlighted that her department and the Provincial Government held a community engagement nearly two weeks ago in Mkhondo with the ordinary South African women.
She emphasised that the voices of ordinary women - like those heard during the community engagements in Mkhondo, must echo in every session of the G20 deliberations.
“Our conversations here mean little if they do not reflect the voices we heard in Mkhondo and those of citizens across all G20 nations and if they do not translate into real improvements in their daily lives,” she said.
Chikunga outlined concrete progress made since South Africa took the G20 reins:
- A global conference on financial inclusion that pushed for gender-responsive land and credit policies and a redesign of the global financial architecture;
- A C-suite roundtable with African banks to pilot inclusive financial products and link executive bonuses to gender-inclusion targets;
- Provincial dialogues that birthed legacy projects such as solar-powered childcare centres and women-led agro-processing hubs.
“These milestones confirm that our agenda is no longer a set of good ideas; it is a living programme of action poised for global scale,” she noted.
Care Economy: The backbone of real growth
Calling the care economy the “hidden engine” that sustains the visible economy, the Minister urged G20 nations to take bold steps to quantify, invest in, and redistribute care work.
“If we costed all paid and unpaid care work, it would equal about 40 percent of global GDP and 380 million jobs. Remove care and almost half the world’s economic value would evaporate overnight,” she warned.
Outlining a three-part call to action, Minister Chikunga pressed for public investment in care as critical infrastructure, the regular measurement of unpaid care through time-use surveys, and legal reforms to support parental leave, living wages for carers, and equitable workplace policies.
“Treating care as peripheral is not a statistical error; it is an act of economic self-harm rooted in patriarchal thinking,” she said.
From consensus to commitment
As the G20 Working Group heads toward its Ministerial Declaration, Minister Chikunga urged delegates to leave Skukuza with a singular mandate: to turn consensus into costed, timeline-driven policy options that uplift women in tangible ways.
“Our work will be measured by practical outcomes: a woman whose unpaid care burden is lighter; a girl who stays in school because a community crèche opened; a survivor who receives timely support and justice. These are the tests that matter,” she said.
With its powerful blend of local insight and global ambition, South Africa’s G20 Presidency is charting a bold path toward women’s economic justice, anchored in the lived realities of its people and powered by the untapped potential of provinces like Mpumalanga. – SAnews.gov.za
