Distinguished delegates,
Colleagues and technical experts,
Friends from labour, business and multilateral organisations,
Ladies and gentlemen,

A profound good morning to you all. We gather here beneath the enduring gaze of the Outeniqua Mountains, in a place where the fynbos teaches us how to bounce back after fire. This reminds us of the strength we must find as guardians of the world of work.

On behalf of the Government of South Africa and the people of the Western Cape, I am pleased to welcome you to George and this important session of the G20 Employment Working Group. The significance of your work cannot be overstated. In your hands lies the difficult task of giving shape and direction to policies that affect working people not only in our countries, but across regions and supply chains.

South Africa has assumed the G20 Presidency guided by the compelling call of 'Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability.' These words are not just aspirations; they are the foundation upon which we must rebuild a multilateral system strained under the weight of converging crises.

We meet amidst profound transitions: the chilling winds of geopolitical division and escalating trade tensions threatening to unravel decades of carefully woven economic interdependence.

The harsh reality is that these tensions are not limited to diplomatic chambers or trading floors; they hit hardest on the shop floors, in the fields, and within workers' homes all around the world. When the delicate threads of international cooperation break, it is the world of work that suffers the most. We see this in the breakdown of supply chains, the weaponisation of market access and the weakening of the very institutions meant to support social justice.

Consider the tremors felt here in Southern Africa. A sudden, severe tariff imposition by a major trading partner has cast a long shadow over our economic landscape. Industries vital to our national livelihood, including automotive manufacturing, agriculture steel, and aluminium, now face an existential challenge. Picture the skilled engineer in Gqeberha, her future uncertain, as R35 billion in luxury vehicle component exports, a lifeline for many small suppliers, confronts prohibitive new barriers. Imagine the citrus farmer in the Sundays River Valley, already battling the caprices of a changing climate, who now sees a vital winter market worth R1.8 billion, supporting an estimated 140,000 seasonal and permanent jobs, potentially evaporating overnight.

This is not merely an economic statistic; it is the quiet panic in communities where entire towns, ecosystems built on decades of trade, now hang precariously in the balance. As one business leader warned, “This is not just an economic challenge; it's an existential threat." The potential loss of 100,000 South African jobs is an exceptionally high number: behind it lie families, dreams deferred, and communities destabilised.

The shockwaves extend far beyond our borders. Economic distress in one nation inevitably spills into its neighbourhood. We see the precursors: heightened social tensions, increased pressure on migration flows as livelihoods vanish and a dangerous erosion of the hard-won peace and stability crucial for regional development.

When jobs disappear in South Africa's industrial heartlands, the ripple effects strain social cohesion not only within our nation but across our Southern African region, testing the resilience of our collective future.

Furthermore, this retreat from collective responsibility strikes at the heart of global labour governance. We witness with profound concern the crippling impact of dwindling support for multilateral institutions dedicated to workers' rights. The International Labour Organisation, our indispensable beacon for decent work standards, has been forced to silence the voices of 225 dedicated guardians of social justice through job losses.

As Director-General Houngbo movingly stated, “One job loss is too many." This erosion of capacity within the ILO is not an isolated budgetary concern, but it is also a direct blow to the protective shield for workers everywhere, weakening our shared ability to navigate the complex future of work and undermining the very foundation of fair globalisation. This retreat from funding multilateral pillars signals a dangerous indifference to the architecture of social justice we have built together.

This, Excellencies, is part of the polycrisis made manifest in the world of work: climate vulnerability, technological disruption, entrenched inequality, and now, the corrosive impact of geopolitical rivalry and unilateral trade actions, all converging to destabilise labour markets and threaten hard-won development gains, particularly in the Global South.

It is precisely against this stark backdrop that South Africa's G20 Presidency theme resonates with urgent relevance.

Our call for Solidarity recognises a fundamental truth: economic shocks know no borders. The threat to jobs in Gqeberha or the Eastern Cape is a warning signal for interconnected economies everywhere. True solidarity demands we reject the siren song of zero-sum economics and fiercely recommit to rules-based trade systems that protect vulnerable economies and the workers within them. It demands we stand firm in support of multilateral institutions, ensuring they have the resources and mandate to fulfil their critical missions.

Our pursuit of Equality compels us to address the glaring imbalances that fuel instability. The Nelson Mandela Bay G20 Youth Target, aiming to dramatically reduce the disengagement of 267 million young people globally, and the Brisbane-EThekwini Goal, committed to closing gender gaps in participation and crucially, in pay, are not abstract ideals. They are concrete pathways to building more just, stable and prosperous societies.

Equality means ensuring that all nations, especially those in the developing world, which bear disproportionate burdens from global disruptions, have a fair stake and a powerful voice in shaping the economic rules that govern their destinies. Trade policies that devastate developing economies stand in direct contradiction to this principle.

And Sustainability requires us to build resilience for the long term. This means managing transitions by creating decent and high-quality jobs, weaving universal social protection floors, as envisioned by ILO Recommendation 202, and ensuring the digital revolution lifts all boats, including those navigating the often-precarious waters of non-standard work.

True sustainability is impossible without stable, predictable international cooperation. Unilateral actions that sabotage long-term investments, destabilise industries, and destroy livelihoods are the antithesis of building a sustainable future for work.

Colleagues,

The women and men we represent — the assembly line worker fearing for his job, the fruit picker watching her harvest lose its market and the ILO expert working with diminished resources — do not have the luxury of retreating behind national walls. Their dignity, their families' security, their hopes for a better tomorrow rest irrevocably on our shoulders, on our ability here in Fancourt to bridge divides and reignite the spirit of “we".

The erosion of multilateralism is not an abstract diplomatic concern; it is a clear and present danger to decent work, social justice, and ultimately, global peace and stability. When trade becomes a tool of division rather than development, workers are the first casualties. When support for the guardians of international labour standards wanes, the rights of all workers are diminished. When geopolitical rivalry stifles dialogue, the space for vital social dialogue contracts.

Therefore, the charge before this Employment Working Group carries the weight of history. The declaration you are forging in these negotiations must be:

Firstly, a bold testament that confronts the full spectrum of the polycrisis – the environmental, technological and social challenges, alongside the insidious geopolitical and trade headwinds that actively undermine global economic stability and workers' security. Secondly, a concrete blueprint that advances measurable, actionable commitments. We need tangible progress on empowering youth, achieving genuine gender equality in both participation and remuneration, ensuring fair labour income shares and building social protection systems fit for the digital age that are accessible to all who labour.

Thirdly, a principled stand that champions a reinvigorated, functional multilateralism as the only viable path to sustainable solutions. It must explicitly affirm the indispensable role of the ILO and call for its adequate, predictable resourcing to fulfil its mandate as the guardian of social justice globally. Fourthly, an inclusive agreement that places the voices, vulnerabilities and vital needs of developing and emerging economies at its very heart, recognising that their stability is intrinsically linked to global prosperity and peace.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let us leave this meeting in George not merely with a document of consensus, but with a manifesto for courageous action. Let the Fancourt Declaration be a beacon, demonstrating the G20's unwavering resolve to uphold and strengthen the rules-based international order, explicitly recognising the fundamental link between predictable, fair trade rules and stable and dignified employment for all. Trade policy is jobs policy, and its destabilisation is a direct threat to global peace and social cohesion.

Our Declaration must champion and robustly resource our multilateral institutions, most critically the ILO, understanding them not as costs but as essential investments in global stability, social justice, and the very future of work we seek to shape. It must also accelerate the implementation of just transitions, ensuring that the shifts towards sustainable and more digital economies are managed with foresight, fairness and a relentless focus on protecting workers' livelihoods and creating quality new opportunities.

Most importantly, the Fancourt Declaration must forge pathways to shared economic resilience through genuine solidarity, building mechanisms to ensure that no nation, no community, and no worker is left to weather destabilising external shocks alone.

As I conclude, let me remind us that the serene beauty of the Garden Route surrounding us is a powerful symbol of what we strive to preserve and nurture. However, its tranquillity must not lull us into complacency. Beyond these mountains and valleys, millions of workers and their families await signs of our resolve, our unity and our courage. They look to forums like this not for rhetoric, but for action that safeguards their livelihoods and secures their futures.

The task before us is to rebuild global cooperation, commitment by commitment. Let our work in Fancourt, guided by Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability, send a clear message: the G20 is dedicated to a world where work brings dignity, peace and shared prosperity, recognising that divisions anywhere affect us all.

It is with this solemn commitment to collective action that I urge you to dedicate your most diligent efforts to these crucial negotiations.

I thank you.​

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