Media Release: Parliament Leaders Call for African Women to Seize the P20 Summit Moment

Parliament, Saturday, 26 July 2025 – The Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Ms Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, and the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Annelie Lotriet, delivered a united and urgent call to accelerate gender equality and women’s empowerment across the African continent.

Their remarks were made during Parliament’s special engagement with the Pan-African Parliament’s (PAP) women and young parliamentarians about South Africa’s hosting of the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit (P20) in October 2025 under the theme: “Harnessing Parliamentary Diplomacy for the Realization of Global Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability.” The engagement was hosted, in collaboration with the PAP Women’s Caucus, yesterday on the sidelines of the PAP’s Fifth Ordinary Session, which is underway in Midrand, Johannesburg, from 21 to 31 July.

With South Africa preparing to host the first P20 on African soil, both leaders urged women and young African parliamentarians to seize this historic moment to speak with a united, unapologetically African voice that brings gender justice, feminist solidarity and people-first reforms to the centre stage.

This year, South Africa holds the G20 Presidency. In alignment with that, Parliament will hold the P20 Summit – a gathering of Speakers and Presiding Officers from G20 member countries. The P20 serves as the parliamentary dimension of the G20, aiming to strengthen global legislative collaboration on key development issues.

“This is not just another summit. This is a reckoning. African women will no longer beg for inclusion, we are here to redefine the agenda, rewire the system and rewrite the rules,” said Chairperson Mtshweni-Tsipane, adding that, “parliamentary diplomacy must be used “not to mimic old power, but to dismantle the logics of exclusion, logics that sort bodies by race, gender and class, and determine who matters and who doesn’t.”

Chairperson Mtshweni-Tsipane challenged the African parliamentarians to lead an epistemic shift by unlearning the colonial ideologies that continue to shape public policy and to build a new legislative framework grounded in equity, reparations and dignity for all.

In line with the African Union’s 2025 theme, “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations,” the presiding officers emphasized that justice must encompass both economic redress and political inclusion.

“This is Africa’s moment, and we, as African women parliamentarians, must seize it. The P20 is not just a milestone, it is a megaphone. We must use it to bring the voices of African women to the centre of global governance,” said Deputy Speaker Lotriet.

While recognising the gains made under the Maputo Protocol and Agenda 2063, both leaders lamented the persistence of structural inequalities. They cited the low representation of women in African parliaments (only 26 %), the endemic levels of gender-based violence, barriers to land, finance and health services as urgent issues that demand coordinated legislative and budgetary action.

“The rights of women and girls cannot live on paper alone, they must be seen in courtrooms, in clinics, in classrooms and in every village across Africa. We must move from ratification to realisation and from symbolic gestures to systemic change,” said Dr Lotriet, adding that the frameworks are in place, the statistics are known and what remains is deliberate and determined action that is driven by political will.

For interviews with the parliamentary delegation attending the PAP Fifth Ordinary Session in Midrand, please contact Modise Kabeli on 081 715 9969 or by email: mkabeli@parliament.gov.za

ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
Enquiries: Moloto Mothapo