DA wants to be sure SA's hosting of G20 will have direct benefits for its citizens

CAPE TOWN - The Democratic Alliance (DA) said it wanted to be sure that South Africa's hosting of the G20 next year would have direct benefits for its citizens.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said that under his presidency, the aim was to find solutions to pressing issues of climate change, disaster resilience, food security, the just energy transition and massive sovereign debt that will benefit the whole continent.

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But the DA's international relations spokesperson, Ryan Smith, said that when the issue of sovereign debt and its impact on growing economies is considered, South Africa must properly analyse its own situation first.

"There's no introspection or acknowledgment of domestic policy failures that have caused that for South Africa. So, I think if we look at those sort of issues in South Africa, we need to diagnose the domestic problems properly before we can leverage the international best practice and expertise to get maximum benefit from the G20."

Smith said that countries like Ethiopia and Kenya were leaving South Africa in the dust when it comes to growing their economies.

South Africa is the only African nation that's part of the G20 bloc, with the rest of the continent represented through the African Union.

"There's a big opportunity for us to learn from other member states that have similar socio-economic circumstances to our own, and we need to leverage the G20 to make sure we as South Africans, and the ordinary South African on the ground, feels the benefit of what we do in our international engagements."