By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@TMF.
Former president Thabo Mbeki has welcomed the US decision to send vice president JD Vance to attend the G20 summit and affirmed the handover would proceed smoothly.
Mbeki was speaking on the sidelines Thabo Mbeki Foundation African Peace and Security Dialogue (APSD) in Magaliesburg.
The 2025 G20 summit will be hosted in Johannesburg on the weekend of 22 November under the themes of solidarity, equality and sustainability.
The G20 was founded in 1999 and comprises of 19 countries and two regional blocks — the European and African Unions.
G20 members make up roughly 85% of the worlds GDP, over 75% of all international and over 65% of the global population.
Leadership of the G20 is assumed on a rotational basis and the host nation is obliged to set the agenda for the summit.
“We would have preferred that President Trump to attend but it would be perfect if Deputy President Vance comes. Our government is keen to hand over to President Trump,” he said, amid strained US-South Africa relations.
“There is a lot of work that have been put behind G20. What we would hand over to the United States at the end of the year would be a very rich programme about the agenda of the G20.”
The APSD wrapped up with a strong emphasis on the need for neutral mediation to achieve enduring peace in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The three-day gathering brought together a diverse group of influential figures, including diplomats, former heads of state, security experts, and civil society representatives, to debate pressing peace and security issues across the continent.
Under the theme of repositioning Africa’s peace architecture, the event focused on hotspots like the Eastern DRC, Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado region, and the Sahel, aiming to move from discussion to actionable solutions rooted in Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.
Mbeki said all of us need to support the Congolese as they work out the future.
He pointed to the ongoing conflict in the Eastern DRC, driven by armed groups, resource exploitation, and governance failures, as a barrier to regional progress.
Mbeki’s remarks aligned with the event’s goal of fostering multilateralism and African-led initiatives, building on the 2023 Nairobi Declaration from the inaugural summit.
Notably absent from the dialogue were key DRC delegation, who declined invitation amid accusations that Mbeki lacks neutrality. They expressed concerns over Mbeki’s perceived closeness to former DRC President Joseph Kabila, currently facing a treason trial.
Fullview learnt that M23 representative had travelled to South Africa for peace talks.
Delegates discussed the June 2025 DRC-Rwanda peace accord mediated by the US, which includes troop withdrawals and neutralising armed groups, but noted its fragile implementation. Experts called for a neutral mechanism to verify compliance, warning that without justice for victims, future conflicts loom.
The origins of this crisis go back to the First Congo War in 1996. Since then, the intensity of conflict in eastern DRC has ebbed and surged. The current M23 offensive represents one of its most violent phases.
Mbeki announced plans to meet Mozambican President Daniel Chapo to address the impasse in Cabo Delgado, where an Islamist insurgency has displaced thousands since 2017.
“In terms of territory in parts of Mozambique, they coincide with the areas they occupy,” Mbeki noted, referring to the overlap between insurgent-held zones and resource-rich areas.
The dialogue examined how corruption, lack of governance, and post-election violence hamper stability, with former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano highlighting these as continental threats.
More than 6,100 people have been killed since the beginning of the insurrection, according to conflict tracker ACLED, including 364 last year, according to data from the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies.
Cabo Delgado has large offshore natural gas reserves, and the fighting caused the suspension of operations by the French company Total Energies in 2021. The French fossil fuel giant has said it hopes to re-ignite the $20bn gas project this summer.
Human Rights Watch last month said the armed group had “ramped up abductions of children”, using them as fighters or for labour or marriage. The group said recruiting or using children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities constitutes a war crime.