Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za
3-minute read | 29 November 2025

📸 South Africa’s G20 hosting highlights global influence amid domestic challenges and continental priorities.

South Africa’s historic hosting of the G20 summit in Johannesburg marked a defining moment for the Global South, placing the country at the centre of international attention while exposing the delicate balance between global prestige and domestic realities. This milestone followed South Africa’s landmark case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel and its continued advocacy for Palestinian rights.

Researcher Dr Imraan Buccus provided insight during the ASRI Report, highlighting both the triumphs and the persistent challenges that accompany South Africa’s elevated diplomatic profile.

The Johannesburg G20 was the first held on African soil, signalling a symbolic shift in global power narratives. For the first time, the Global South hosted the world’s largest economies, demonstrating the continent’s ability to convene critical discussions on inequality, climate change, and resource management. “South Africa did really well internationally, from logistics to reaching a declaration amid a difficult G20,” Dr Buccus noted.

Yet the summit’s impact on pressing humanitarian crises remains limited. While Gaza, Sudan, and the DRC were mentioned in the Johannesburg declaration, Dr Buccus emphasised that G20 resolutions are non-binding, and ideological divides particularly between North American, European, and Global South nations complicate any unified response. The forum nevertheless offered an important platform for Southern voices advocating for Palestinian rights and African development.

President Cyril Ramaphosa emerged as a poised leader, particularly in contrast to U.S. President Donald Trump, whose threats to bar South Africa from the next G20 in Florida sparked international headlines. Dr Buccus stressed that, diplomatically, South Africa handled these provocations with composure, leveraging its membership in the G20 Troika to maintain influence while planning contingencies that include strengthening ties with China and East Asia.

Domestically, however, South Africa faces profound challenges. Dr Buccus warned that the country’s diplomatic triumphs abroad “have thrown its deepest domestic failures into sharp focus.” Corruption, failing infrastructure, and political instability highlighted by investigations like the Madalanga Commission continue to erode public trust and threaten the government’s legitimacy. The gap between international respect and internal dysfunction presents a pressing dilemma: how to uphold the same principles at home that South Africa champions on the world stage.

On the continent’s broader priorities, the G20 platform allowed South Africa to highlight debt relief, resource beneficiation, and inequality. African mineral wealth, from South Africa’s platinum to Mozambique’s graphite, was framed as strategically vital to global supply chains, yet the continent still faces longstanding challenges around equitable resource management and economic autonomy.

Dr Buccus concluded that while South Africa’s hosting of the G20 strengthened its moral authority and showcased capable leadership, sustaining that influence requires tackling domestic crises with the same rigor applied internationally. “How does it deal with its domestic challenges, bearing in mind that it’s done so well abroad?” he asked a question that will define the nation’s legacy in the years to come.

Listen to the full ASRI Report on Sabahul Muslim with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Dr Imraan Buccus.