Joburg, our G20 as Pope blesses South Africa and White House snubs Africa

Africa's first staging of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg next weekend has seen host South Africa score a diplomatic high with blessings from the Pope at Vatican City—even as the White House snubbed the gathering.

- Marlan Padayachee

We may be described as a hadada nation—loud, noisy, and quarrelsome over wealth and state tenders—but South Africa is rising. Fresh from winning the interim leadership of the lacklustre SADC, even as Madagascar slips into coup-inspired chaos, the country prepares to host heads of state and delegates from 20 nations and observer countries.

It is “cometh the moment, cometh the man” time for our billionaire-rancher president, Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa, blessed by Pope Leo XIV, the Chicago-born pontiff. At the Vatican, Ramaphosa outlined South Africa's vision for the G20: solidarity, equality, sustainability, empowerment of the marginalised, and justice for all. “We meet at a time when humanity faces immense challenges. To many, it seems easier to fund wars than invest in peace,” he told the Pope.

Ramaphosa invited the pontiff to visit South Africa under the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference banner: “We would be greatly honoured to host you in our beautiful country. I will carry these blessings and spirit of hope back to our people in South Africa.” The papal protocol, coupled with SADC leadership and G20 timing, strategically positions Pretoria as a regional and continental powerhouse.