Joburg and Tshwane mayors urge G20 Summit to amplify African city voices

Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero and his Tshwane counterpart Dr Nasiphi Moya have called on the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November to listen to the voices of city governments, especially those on the African continent.

At the opening of the three-day Urban 20 (U20) mayoral summit on Friday in Sandton, Johannesburg, Morero said this year is a pivotal moment for city diplomacy under South Africa’s G20 presidency.

"With the U20 taking place on African soil for the first time, we have a historic opportunity to show that cities are not junior partners but global political actors in their own right," he said.

Morero promised that Johannesburg’s hosting of the first U20 Summit on African soil will help the municipality build on this legacy, transforming its shared priorities into the U20 communiqué and delivering key messages that will directly drive and shape the G20 decisions.

"The summit offers an unprecedented platform to explain how we can unlock and mobilise resources so that no city or community is left behind," he explained.

Morero added that from climate action to social services, housing to local infrastructure, municipal finance is the bridge that turns ambition into results.

"Let us use this gathering to reaffirm that cities are not only the sites of global challenges but the engines of global solutions," he said, adding that he hoped the gathering would bring the voices of mayors directly into the G20 deliberations.

Moya said that while she is the co-chairperson of the summit with Morero, representing the City of Tshwane, it was also not lost on her that she was standing alongside thousands of African mayors who bring with them the voices of their cities.

"Our task is to ensure that the African voice is sharpened and heard clearly when we take our collective contributions to the G20 in November," she said.

According to Moya, the U20 Summit offers the opportunity to make sure that the lived realities of African cities form part of the global agenda.

"We cannot afford to waste this opportunity; we are determined to use this platform to ensure that Africa is not spoken about but spoken with," she stated.

Moya emphasised that African cities do not come empty-handed but concrete actions already under way.

"The investment pledges we secured on Wednesday are a tangible demonstration of what can be achieved when local leadership takes initiative. In the City of Tshwane, we are showing what can be achieved when cities take bold action," she said, referring to this week’s investment summit.

On Wednesday, the capital city hosted a very successful investment summit that secured over R86 billion in investment pledges, according to Moya.

She said this achievement was borne out of the Tshwane economic revitalisation strategy, which was adopted by its council this year.

"The strategy reflects our belief that cities must take responsibility for finding new and innovative ways of raising capital to drive infrastructure development. Our focus is building on the infrastructure our people need to live with dignity, travel safely, and to grow our local economies," Moya added.

She believes that too often, municipalities have the will and the vision but lack the financial resources to drive those ambitions.

"We cannot continue to allow this to limit progress; this is why we are working to find new and innovative ways of bringing investors to the table to invest in institutions like our city," Moya said.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za