‘G20 is bigger than Trump’: Bonang Mohale on SA’s global moment, US snubs, and why redress still matters
From Sunday Times Politics Weekly by TimesLIVE Podcasts
November 21, 2025 · 53 min · Episode 7
About this episode
Prof Bonang Mohale discusses South Africa's role in the G20 Leaders’ Summit and the implications of US President Trump's absence.
As South Africa hosts the G20 Leaders’ Summit this weekend, business leader and G20 Sherpa Prof Bonang Mohale says the world’s focus should extend far beyond the drama surrounding US President Donald Trump’s expected absence. Mohale, who served as South Africa’s G20 negotiator (“Sherpa”), argues that the summit represents a pivotal opportunity for South Africa to reassert itself economically and diplomatically. Mohale says Trump’s hostility towards South Africa must be understood within a bigger global context, rather than as a personal or bilateral dispute. “Trump 1.0 demonstrated beyond any shadow of doubt that the president of the United States is against anything that is woke, progressive. He’s a racist, he’s against women, against Muslims, against people who prefer the same gender,” Mohale said. “If the facts don’t favour him, he manufactures his own. He’s a bully. He believes in the currency of tariffs: ‘I get my way or else’.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
People in this episode
Guest: Prof Bonang Mohale
Topics covered
- G20 Leaders’ Summit
- South Africa
- US politics
- global economy
- diplomacy
Keywords
- Trump
- redress
- economic opportunity
- diplomatic relations
Mentioned in this episode
Places: SA, US, South Africa, South Africa’s, the United States
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