South Africa's G20: A Platform for Civil Society Voices
In December 2024, South Africa assumed the G20 Presidency — the first time for the African continent. This milestone offers a rare chance to shape global economic, climate, and social agendas from an African and Global South perspective. Civil society, grassroots movements, and policy advocates are working to turn political pledges into concrete, people-centred policies that put those most affected by inequality at the centre.
From Local Struggles to Global Platforms
From August to December 2025, HBF Cape Town will collaborate with partners to co-curate a series of interventions exploring the intersections between local struggles and global priorities.
The work will focus on four key areas:
- Food Justice
- Ecological Justice & the Just Transition
- Housing, Land & Climate Justice
- Mid-Term Review of the G20 Presidency
Through a mix of public dialogues, workshops, and publications, the project will connect community-based experiences to global policy debates. Beginning with a deep dive into food justice, the series will highlight how everyday realities of inequality, climate change, and access to resources are directly tied to international decisions.
Alongside these events, media articles and publications will amplify civil society voices, broaden public understanding, and ensure that perspectives from the ground are made visible to those shaping policy at the national, regional, and global levels.
By creating spaces for exchange, dialogue, and collective action, civil society and community voices are strengthened ensuring that they are not on the margins but at the centre of decision-making.
As G20 President, South Africa has placed food security at the top of its agenda, creating a rare opportunity for transformative, rights-based solutions.
This opening dialogue was hosted in collaboration with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and explored the urgency of centring food justice in South Africa’s G20 presidency, structural causes of hunger and poverty, and concrete pathways to advance food sovereignty, economic justice, and climate resilience.
Our sincere thanks again to our speakers:
- Olivier de Schutter – UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Co-chair of IPES-Food
- Raj Patel – Writer, activist, academic, filmmaker, and member of IPES-Food
- Phelisa Mashiyi – Programme Director, Callas Foundation
- Nangamso Ka NomaHlubi Koza – Development strategist
Related Materials & Resources:
- Fuel to Fork
- Counter-hegemony & Poly Crisis
- With Pots & Pens to Parliament
- Buffer Stocks against Inflation
This dialogue is hosted in partnership with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (RLF) and the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ). The event will serve as a launch for the buffer stocks policy brief “Staple food price trends in South Africa: A case for buffer stocks?”, co-authored by the IEJ and the RLF. The brief examines how publicly-managed food buffer stocks in South Africa could:
- Stabilise prices and protect consumers from volatility.
- Strengthen household food security and by increasing the food system’s resilience to climate change and supply shocks.
- Support smallholder farmers and more diversified production, especially of indigenous grains.
- Link national food security to regional and global cooperation, contributing to a SADC-wide buffer stock system and aligning with broader initiatives such as the African Union’s CAADP and the G20 food security agenda.
The launch will bring together civil society, researchers, and policymakers to discuss the design and implementation of buffer stocks in South Africa, exploring how they could enhance food system resilience, nutritional diversity, and climate adaptation, while creating a foundation for regional cooperation on food price stability.
Join HBF & the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship for a conversation on South Africa’s G20 Presidency — reflecting on progress, challenges, and opportunities as we look ahead to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November.
A forthcoming collaboration with Habitat International Coalition and Isandla Institute to bring housing and spatial justice to the forefront of G20 discussions, linking secure tenure, urban inclusion, and climate resilience.