Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za
18 July 2025 | 10:30 CAT
2 min read

A giant banner dropped in Durban this week is sending a loud message to world leaders: “End Financial Apartheid.” As South Africa hosts the G20 Finance Ministers meeting, Greenpeace Africa is calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to take a bold stance for global tax justice.

At the heart of the protest is one clear demand: tax the super-rich.

Fred Njehu, global political lead for Fair Share Campaign with Greenpeace Africa, says the current international financial system continues to marginalise developing nations. “Financial apartheid is a term that we are using as a campaign just to illustrate the fact that the international financial system is still controlled by the super powerful, bigger countries and bigger economies while the developing countries are at the peripheral of the discussions,” he explained in an interview with Radio Islam.

Njehu said global tax rules currently benefit wealthier nations while disadvantaging countries in Africa and other parts of the Global South. “If you look at the global tax rules as they are, they favour the bigger economies at the detriment of African countries and other developing regions,” he said.

Greenpeace Africa believes President Ramaphosa, as a leader within the G20, has a crucial role to play. “He has a golden opportunity to lead this conversation and to lead this economic transformation that is fair, just and equitable,” he said.

Responding to whether protests like this still hold weight, Njehu noted that public demonstrations remain a vital tool of activism, particularly in restricted or elite spaces. “Protests are used to convey a message, especially for spaces where civil society organisations and non-state actors are restricted. They are part and parcel of the process,” he added.

While protests remain essential, Njehu urges activists to also pursue other channels: “We have to continuously be creative, speak truth to power, and also engage in other spaces—diplomatically, bilaterally, or in any other forums that we can be able to create the change.”

South Africa has joined global tax reform platforms, including the UN Tax Convention and a joint initiative with Brazil and Spain. But are these efforts meaningful or merely symbolic?

Njehu noted that South Africa’s participation is vital, not only for its own economic justice but for the continent’s. “Being the biggest African economy and being in those spaces is able to push for progressive reforms that also favour our call for taxation of the super-rich,” he said.

He also highlighted the importance of the UN Tax Convention, calling it “a global platform for parties to make these rules so that the tax rules are fair… We obtain taxing rights… and a more democratic process.”

Greenpeace Africa, along with the Fight Inequality Alliance, is urging leaders to back real reform. “Political leadership plays a critical role. The rest of the African countries are also looking to South African leadership, through President Ramaphosa, so that these benefits are also able to trickle down to smaller economies,” said Njehu.

As the G20 meetings continue behind closed doors, activists in Durban have made sure that one message is clearly visible: Tax the super-rich. End financial apartheid.

LISTEN to the full interview with Ml Sulaimaan Ravat and Fred Njehu, global political lead for Fair Share Campaign with Greenpeace Africa, here.