Parliament is Ready to Host World Parliamentary Leaders for the 11th P20 Summit in Cape Town

Parliament will host the 11th G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit (P20), at Arabella Hotel in Kleinmond outside Cape Town, from 29 September to 3 October 2025. This gathering of Speakers and Presiding Officers from Group of Twenty (G20) member countries, will be held under the theme: “Harnessing Parliamentary Diplomacy for the Realisation of Global Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability.”

In an official media release announcing its readiness to host this international event, Parliament said the P20 Summit will serve as a platform to promote shared responsibility and historical accountability, while fostering new partnerships for Africa’s sustainable development and racial justice.

“The P20 will play a key role in establishing and strengthening existing collaborations between South Africa and other African nations, as well as with countries worldwide, through the promotion of policy and legislative initiatives that will positively influence the global agenda,” the media statement said.

The summit programme will be preceded by the 2nd P20 Meeting of Women Parliamentarians and the P20 Young Parliamentarians Conference, which will take place concurrently at Arabella Hotel from 29 to 30 September 2025.

The hosting of the P20 summit forms part of South Africa’s Presidency of the G20, and has dominated parliamentary debates and public participation, through the sectoral parliaments this year.

Among the build-up events to the P20 Summit was a symposium of Speakers and other leaders and representatives of national parliaments from the African continent, which was held on the sidelines of the ordinary session of the Pan African Parliament in July this year.

In that symposium, the President of the Pan African Parliament, Chief Fortune Charumbira, called on all of Africa to stand with South Africa and make an input into the G20 process for the benefit of the entire continent. The House Chairperson for Committees and Oversight in the National Assembly Mr Cedric Frolick said Africa must use the G20 opportunity to shape global policies that impact on the African continent.

This year’s Women’s Parliament was also organised in line with the activities of hosting the P20 Speakers’ Summit.

South Africa took over the annual rotational presidency of the G20 from 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025. P20 summits play a crucial role in bringing a parliamentary perspective to global governance by raising awareness, building political support for international commitments and ensuring their effective implementation at the national level.

The G20 was established in 1999 in response to the Asian financial crisis and started as a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors before it was elevated to leaders’ level in 2008 during the global financial crisis. Its primary objective is international economic cooperation and financial stability. It is comprised of 19 countries, as well as the European Union and African Union, with Nigeria and Ethiopia as observers.

Member countries are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States.