South Africa pulled off an unexpected diplomatic victory at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, securing consensus on a leaders’ declaration after weeks of high expectations and deep geopolitical rifts.
Delegates from several regions said Pretoria’s strategy of engaging countries in regional blocs, Brics, the EU and Middle Eastern delegations, was key to breaking stalemates on issues ranging from debt relief to trade reform.
Negotiators ran what one senior official from the department of international relations and co-operation (Dirco) described as a “highly disciplined, compartmentalised process”, holding parallel talks with each bloc to identify areas of overlap before pushing for convergence in the final text that was agreed to.
The approach, which avoided open floor clashes, allowed sherpas to narrow gaps early and defuse tensions that have derailed other global summits this year.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the outcome underscored the resilience of global co-operation despite geopolitical strain.
“If anyone imagined multilateralism could weaken, the COP and the G20 in South Africa show multilateralism is more than alive,” Lula told reporters on the sidelines of the gathering.
He said G20 members were unanimous about the need to strengthen the World Trade Organization to bolster the multilateral system.
“The absence of a leader means nothing to the G20. It means nothing, because the G20 are the 20 largest economies in the world. I think that the G20 today is the great forum of multilateral decisions and it has the respectability of the whole economy.
“All the countries were represented, except the US. In other times, one or another country did not come, and the G20 continues to be strengthened,” he said.
Japan’s cabinet secretary for public affairs, Maki Kobayashi-Terada, said President Cyril Ramaphosa was “determined to reach a declaration”, crediting South Africa’s sherpas with “hard, persistent work in the background” to keep key negotiating groups aligned.
European and Asian diplomats who spoke to Business Day said Pretoria’s method of isolating common ground in smaller settings gave the summit momentum and helped secure last-minute compromises.
Ramaphosa closed the G20 summit on Sunday with a strong warning about the spiralling debt burdens engulfing developing economies.
He told summit leaders the debt burdens had become one of the biggest threats to global stability, and support was needed for countries at risk of default.
Ramaphosa said the world was at an “inflection point” as debt servicing costs outpaced economic growth in dozens of low- and middle-income nations, undermining efforts to meet the UN’s sustainable development goals.
“This year, we recognised the growing debt burden faced by many developing economies as a major obstacle to achieving the SDGs,” he told leaders.
“Together, we must create a virtuous cycle of reduced debt, higher public investment and more rapid, inclusive growth.”
The G20 leaders’ declaration commits members to extend support to vulnerable economies confronting debt distress, including enhanced restructuring frameworks and a push for multilateral development banks to scale up concessional finance.
Together, we must create a virtuous cycle of reduced debt, higher public investment and more rapid, inclusive growth
— President Cyril Ramaphosa
Ramaphosa framed debt relief not as an act of charity but as a prerequisite for global economic stability. Many African countries spend more on interest payments than on health or education, a trend which he said undermines long-term development and widens inequality.
“The greatest opportunity for prosperity in the 21st century lies in Africa, but harnessing that opportunity requires policy space, and that starts with addressing the debt overhang.”
The president linked the issue directly to climate action, arguing that emerging markets could not meet the demands of a low-carbon transition while trapped in a cycle of unsustainable borrowing.
The declaration pledges to improve the quality and quantity of climate finance available to developing countries and to strengthen multilateral development banks (MDBs) so they can take on more risk and crowd in private capital.
He said without meaningful debt restructuring, energy transition programmes, including South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Partnership, would stall.
Pretoria pushed the bloc to confront what it sees as the structural inequities in the global financial system.
Ramaphosa called for reforms that would allow developing countries to access emergency liquidity more easily and at a lower cost and urged G20 members to back expanded post-disaster reconstruction finance as climate-driven catastrophes erode fiscal buffers.
“The summit has taken place at a crucial time as calls around the world grow louder for progress on the imperatives of our time, to end poverty in all its forms, to reduce inequality within and among countries, and to take urgent action to combat climate change.
“More than that, it reaffirms our renewed commitment to multilateral co-operation and our recognition that our shared goals outweigh our differences.”
We have laid the foundation of solidarity. Now we must build the walls of justice and the roof of prosperity
The focus on debt was part of South Africa’s broader effort to place Africa and the wider Global South at the heart of the G20’s agenda.
Ramaphosa said hosting the summit on African soil for the first time underscored the continent’s rising economic weight but also the urgency of removing barriers that restrict investment and suppress growth.
“We have laid the foundation of solidarity. Now we must build the walls of justice and the roof of prosperity,” he said.
“Through collective action, we can confront and overcome the world’s challenges and ensure no-one is left behind.”
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