ON THE OCCASION OF THE W20 SOUTH AFRICA INCEPTION MEETING OPENING PLENARY Date: 21 May 2025
Time: 09:00 – 10:30
Venue: Lagoon Beach Hotel & Spa, Cape Town, South Africa Event
Theme: “Women in Solidarity” Hosted by: W20 South Africa
- OPENING Programme Director,
- Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller and Ms Sibulele Poswayo, Co-Chairs of W20 South Africa,
- Ambassador Mathu Joyini, South Africa’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations,
- Ms Aleta Miller, UN Women Multi-Country Representative for Southern Africa,
- Distinguished delegates from across the G20 and beyond,
- Members of the diplomatic corps, business and civil society leaders, including, Ms Maude Modise of the Shoprite Group and Ms Nontobeko Ndhlazi of Wiphold,
- Professor Bonang Mohale, Chancellor of the University of the Free State,
- Former Minister of Women and Vice President of the Pan African Women’s Organisation, Ms Bathabile Dlamini
- Deputy Director General, DWYPD Ms Shoki Tshabalala
- Representatives from the Western Cape Province,
- W20 delegates, Sherpas, Task Team leads, youth representatives,
Good morning.
It is a privilege to welcome you to Cape Town for the Women20 South Africa Inception Meeting, held under the theme “Women in Solidarity”, and under the historic weight of South Africa’s G20 Presidency — the first ever by an African nation.
This is not just South Africa’s G20. It is Africa’s G20. And we dare to say: it is the People’s G20.
Allow me to thank our W20 Co-Chairs, the Human Sciences Research Council, and the many national and international partners who have brought this convening to life. You have not only organised a meeting — you have created a moment of collective possibility.
We also recognise the W20 leaders and delegates from Turkey to Brazil, who over the past decade have advanced gender equality at the highest levels of global policy. We inherit your legacy — not as custodians of the past, but as architects of what must come next.
Today’s gathering, at the foot of Table Mountain, is more than a meeting. It is a milestone. A chance to chart a new path. A moment to ensure that the lived realities of women are not footnotes in economic recovery, but foundations of sustainable development.
- THE MEANING OF “WOMEN IN SOLIDARITY.”
Chairperson, colleagues, and friends — The theme of this Inception Meeting — “Women in Solidarity” — is not a ceremonial phrase. It is a reminder that in a world fractured by inequality, conflict, and rising resistance to progress, our greatest strength is our collective voice — and our shared conviction.
Solidarity is not charity. It is a political act — a strategic imperative. And for women in Africa and the Global South, it has always been so.
In South Africa, we understand this deeply. Our democracy was not won in isolation — it was forged through collective sacrifice. That is why we draw from the principle of Ubuntu: “I am because we are.” It is more than African wisdom. It is a global truth — that transformation is never achieved alone.
In this moment — when multilateralism is being tested, and the space for global cooperation is narrowing — solidarity is not optional. It is urgent.
When we speak of “Women in Solidarity,” we speak of women who organise across borders. Who share not only trauma, but tools. Who move not in parallel, but in alignment — toward a world that is just, inclusive, and sustainable.
W20 South Africa must carry that vision forward. A vision rooted in the lived realities of rural women, informal workers, young people, persons with disabilities, and care providers. A vision that insists: policy must touch the ground — and rise with the voices of those most often left out.
We meet at the intersection of powerful platforms: the Beijing Platform for Action gave us the blueprint. The Commission on the Status of Women gave us the forum. The W20 gives us the policy voice. And the EWWG gives us the technical space to deliver measurable outcomes.
But now, these platforms must do more than coexist. They must connect. They must speak to one another. They must align. Because Women in Solidarity must also mean platforms in solidarity — stitched into a single tapestry of accountability and action.
- THE URGENCY OF THE MOMENT — GLOBAL PUSHBACK
Distinguished delegates, This year marks thirty years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action — a global commitment to the full realisation of women’s rights in every country, economy, and sector.
Three decades later, that vision remains unfinished.
Progress has been made, yes — but it has been uneven, fragile, and too often reversed. The foundations we once took for granted are being questioned. Rights that were hard-won are now under threat.
At CSW69, where I had the honour of leading South Africa’s delegation, we saw this tension unfold. Paragraphs once accepted by consensus are now contested. Language that united us is up for negotiation. The space for progress is shrinking — even as the needs of women expand.
This is not only a test of diplomacy. It is a test of global justice.
Let us be honest: At the current pace, it will take 134 years to close the global gender gap. Women still hold just one in four parliamentary seats. More than 119 million girls are out of school. And the global economy loses up to 10 trillion dollars annually by failing to invest in women. These are not abstract figures — they are red flags. Warnings that remind us: progress is not guaranteed. And what we fail to defend today, we will be forced to fight for again tomorrow. If multilateralism is under strain, then this is the test we must pass. Not with caution — but with courage.
- SOUTH AFRICA’S G20 PRESIDENCY — A DEVELOPMENTAL VISION:
Distinguished delegates, South Africa’s G20 Presidency is grounded in a vision of justice — for those who have long been excluded from the full benefits of economic growth.
Under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa, we embrace the theme: Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability. These are not abstract principles — they are urgent imperatives in the face of deepening inequality, climate crisis, and economic fragmentation.
As the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, we are honoured to chair the G20 Empowerment of Women Working Group (EWWG). Through this platform, we are advancing three priority areas:
- The Care Economy — to treat care as essential infrastructure. We are calling for investment in childcare, elder care, and support for unpaid caregivers — the majority of whom are women.
- Financial Inclusion — to break barriers to credit, land, procurement, and digital access. We must ensure that rural women, young women, and women in informal economies are not locked out of opportunity.
- Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) — to move beyond declarations and into delivery. We are calling for stronger systems of prevention, survivor support, and accountability — guided by national plans and backed by serious investment.
These are not emerging challenges. They are long-acknowledged gaps that have been underfunded, under-prioritised, and under-acted upon.
South Africa speaks not from theory — but from lived effort.
Our National Strategic Plan on GBVF drives coordinated action across all levels of government.
Through WECONA, the Women’s Economic Assembly, we are localising transformation in key industries and using procurement to open space for women-owned businesses.
The recently enacted Public Procurement Act empowers us to use our R1.5 trillion procurement budget to drive inclusion and equity — a structural intervention with generational potential.
We are aligning G20 priorities with our own Medium-Term Strategic Framework, National Development Plan, and gender-responsive budgeting systems. Distinguished delegates,
This Presidency is an opportunity to realign global priorities with developmental justice. That means:
- Reforming global financial systems to serve all nations, not just the powerful;
- Investing in social infrastructure to unlock economic potential;
- And building economies that are inclusive, resilient, and human-centred.
Let this Presidency be remembered not for its events — but for the impact it delivered. Especially for women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
- CLOSING — A LEGACY CARRIED FORWARD
Distinguished delegates,
As we close this Inception Meeting tomorrow, let us be clear: this is not the end of a conversation — it is the beginning of a mobilisation.
The legacy of South Africa’s G20 Presidency will not be measured by the volume of its events or the elegance of its communiqués. It will be measured by the lives changed, the systems reformed, and the power redistributed.
We stand at a pivotal moment — where the African continent has the opportunity to shape the course of global recovery. Where the Global South can reimagine the social contract. And where we can prove that leadership from our regions is not only possible — it is indispensable.
Let us leave this space with a shared resolve — to structure women’s voices into the heart of public policy, into budgets, into institutions, and into outcomes.
Let us reaffirm that solidarity is not sentiment — it is strategy. And that justice is not an ambition — it is a mandate.
In South Africa, we walk in the footsteps of Charlotte Maxeke, Ruth Mompati, and Albertina Sisulu — women who reminded us that freedom without equality is fiction. It is in that spirit that we anchor this Presidency in legacy projects that are not symbolic — but structural.
As part of our Chairship of the G20 Empowerment of Women Working Group, South Africa has conceptualised several empowerment programmes that we intend to advance through sustained partnerships — beyond our G20 term.
These include:
- The Transformative Emerging Industrialists Accelerator, designed to support emerging women entrepreneurs in priority sectors such as energy, maritime, defence and aerospace, platform economies, and agriculture. Participants will receive end-to-end support — from ideation and product development to financing, market access, and commercialisation — in collaboration with SOEs, private companies, and industry associations.
- The Disability Inclusion Initiative (DII), our flagship programme to embed disability rights and inclusion across policy, institutions, and society. Anchored by the establishment of a Disability Inclusion Nerve Centre, this initiative will focus on:
- Research on disability inclusion across the care economy, AI, financial inclusion, and climate adaptation; o The creation of a National Disability Data Observatory; o Strengthening data systems across the public and private sectors; o Developing early childhood disability screening protocols;
- Building capacity through empowered disability focal points; o Supporting model inclusive classrooms and disability-responsive schooling systems;
- And using technology to bridge access gaps for persons with disabilities.
These are not once-off initiatives. They are long-term structural interventions designed to outlive the Presidency — and we stand ready to engage the private sector, development partners, and multilateral institutions to take them forward.
Just yesterday, I met with The European House – Ambrosetti, which is institutionalising a Women’s Empowerment Observatory as a legacy of Italy’s G20 Presidency. Their example affirms what we believe: you cannot transform what you do not measure.
That is why our Observatory will not only collect data — it will shape decision-making, drive accountability, and support delivery.
The Human Sciences Research Council — which has supported this very W20 platform — has shown us that women with disabilities experience some of the highest levels of violence and exclusion, yet remain the least visible and least protected. That is not just a gap. It is a systemic failure.
The DII is how we begin to correct that failure — not with sentiment, but with structure.
Distinguished delegates,
This is what it means to carry the legacy forward. It means ensuring that the priorities we affirm here — in Cape Town, Pretoria, Geneva, Delhi, Jakarta, Brasília, and Rome — are realised in Lusikisiki, Nagaland, Flint, Yunnan, and Eastern Turkey, where women are furthest from global platforms, yet closest to the consequences of policy failure.
Let this be the W20 that proved we are not guests in the global economy — we are builders of it.
As you begin your deliberations, I want to acknowledge the profound weight you carry — the responsibility of speaking for billions of women and girls whose lives depend on the choices we make in rooms like these.
You are not deliberating on theory or myth. You are deliberating on the lived realities of:
Girls who are still barred from classrooms.
Young women who are being trafficked, abused, and silenced.
Mothers who return from work to help with homework, cook dinner, and hold their families together — and still rise the next morning to compete with men who spent the night watching television.
These are not the margins of the global economy. They are its backbone.
Over the next two days, I encourage you to be bold, unapologetic, and united. May your deliberations speak not only to governments — but for the millions whose voices are not in this room, but whose futures will be shaped by what we do here.
I wish you powerful and transformative deliberations. Welcome to South Africa. Welcome to the W20.
Let us walk forward — together — in solidarity.
I thank you,