Cape Town invites President to relocate G20 summit to Mother City
06 March 2025
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has invited President Cyril Ramaphosa to relocate November’s G20 Leaders Summit to the Mother City following the President expressing disappointment at the state of Johannesburg during recent G20 meetings he attended.
Speaking at the Johannesburg Metro Council on Thursday, President Ramaphosa referenced the poor state of the city, including in the vicinity of G20 meeting venues, reportedly saying, ‘it’s good to be direct and, to tell it like it is, I should say that one or two of the meetings of the G20 that I attended here were not very pleasing, the environment that one observed was not a pleasing environment’.
Following a successful G20 Finance Ministers meeting held in Cape Town, Mayor Hill-Lewis has opened the way for the President to host further pivotal G20 meetings in the Mother City, particularly the G20 Leader’s Summit in November.
‘Mr President, you can be assured that Cape Town is ready at any time to host the G20 Leader’s Summit and represent South Africa with pride on the global stage. This is a city with a thriving Central Business District offering working traffic lights, neat roads and sidewalks, unmatched natural beauty, and excellent conferencing infrastructure. As South Africans, we absolutely want to see Joburg rise to be the world-class African city it should be, but if the challenges prove insurmountable between now and the November G20 Summit, you can count on Cape Town to perform “country duty” and host a successful summit,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
Cape Town has approved a South African record infrastructure budget of R39,5bn over three years, more than the three Gauteng metros combined. The City has further calculated that 75% of its infrastructure spending directly benefits lower income households, with the pro-poor portion amounting to R9bn in 24/25 - more than the entire infrastructure budget of any other city.
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
