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These immortal words from the song “As time goes by”, composed in 1931 by American songwriter Herman Hupfeld for the movie Casablanca, are etched in the composite memory of songs that became immemorial in 20th century America. “It’s still the same old story” is a phrase as pertinent today as it was then, and probably always will be. It is certainly relevant when it comes to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s promises and pronouncements over the years. The messages are always the same, though couched in  modern takes on the old, tired utterances of a man with nothing new to say. In mellifluous tones, exuding an air of authority and command (wholly unjustified), the president’s mastery of the ubiquitous phrases of assurance and good sense are, to put it mildly, wearing thin.

The president’s 2025 G20 themes were Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability. In his 2024 opening speech, he emphasised global solidarity, inequality and sustainable development. In his closing delivery, he emphasised inequality and sustainable development.

In 2023, he talked of climate change, global poverty especially in the “global south” and his hoary old chestnut, inequality. He highlighted Africa’s priorities for the G20 which of course were about money, debt and aid. The first world should write off African debt, he declared. Sustainable development was also proffered as an integral discussion point within the G20 2023 programme, as was support (from the global north of course) for debt cancellation of the usual African suspects.

THE CURRRENT G20 JAMBOREE

Certain South African newspapers acclaimed the G20 conference as “an unqualified success” which left the US president “on the sidelines”. The G20 was ”steering the global economy towards a more stable and prosperous decade”!  Mr. Trump got “a bloody nose”, declared one gushing editor. A trusted acolyte of the president, Mcebisi Jonas, chairman of South Africa’s cell giant MTN who serves as the president’s special envoy to the United States, declared in a national newspaper that  “South Africa is acting as a pragmatic champion of an international system that is more responsive, more equitable (key word!) and capable of delivering tangible results, particularly for African nations (funding is tangible!). Concrete instruments include debt terms, and financial flows that unlock projects and jobs on the ground.”

There we have it – the golden thread that runs through every international speech by a politician from this sub-Saharan sector of the world  – it’s all about the money! There is never enough money in Africa, and the 30-odd years reign of the ANC proves this point – they turned South Africa into a den of thieves: corruption and venality became means to the end they all desired. Nothing different here than in the rest of the continent. Liberal author R. W. Johnson declared rather reluctantly that they “stuck to the African script”. They are no different than their chums north of the Limpopo.

The global north’s blinkers are off. They have finally woken up to the fact that the African Che Guevara’s are nothing more than takers, and “our people” whom they promised they would save from the horrors of colonialism and apartheid, are poorer than ever. And the world now knows that to be true!

THE COLD REALITES OF THE ANC’S SOUTH AFRICA.

A cursory glance at news reports on contemporary South African goings on during the G20 meeting, surely scrutinised in the visitors’ hotel rooms, puts paid to the president’s  carefully crafted begging bowl address. In every solicitous news story supporting him, the financial element rears its ugly head. What matters, said one acolyte, is that the world’s “financial architecture” must be restructured to include those “it has deliberately impoverished for decades”. This gentleman refers to an erstwhile South African finance minister who focused his demands on ”credit agency reform”, suggesting a borrowers’ club be formed  “to strengthen the voice of debtor countries with a view to influencing the terms and cost of future borrowing”. He saw South Africa as a future borrower, not as a country eager to rid itself of debt. And borrowers they will continue to be, followed by a request for a debt ”reschedule” or, better, a cancellation because they are victims of colonialism, apartheid or some other scourge that was not their fault.

It’s a nice job if you can get it, this borrowing!  The mentality behind this attitude never changes. The corruption and thievery and the incompetence of the ANC’s deployed cadres never seem to make the headlines when money is discussed. The lenders seem afraid to spell out what we all know – that lending to many African countries is to pour  money down a rat hole. Many nations in the realm seem to believe that aid is their due, as does, apparently, South Africa.

WHAT THE DELEGATES TOOK HOME WITH THEM

Declarations and speeches, yes. But have the world’s bankers been seduced by the same old story? What did Mr. Ramaphosa show them that this time things are different? Says Dr. Duncan du Bois in his monthly newsletter, “The most overlooked word among those who wax lyrically about the G20 declarations is “sustainability”. But this is not evident in basic services, the functioning of infrastructure, the combating of crime, the implementation of justice, institutional integrity and the quality of education. The fabric of society is not sustainable given the pandemic levels of HIV, drug and alcohol abuse, addiction to gambling and lawlessness.”

 + LAND GRABS. Amidst this mayhem some South African organisations still brazenly deny what is factually reported in the South African media, and further repeated by the US president . These SA groups accuse Mr. Trump and South African witnesses of “spreading misinformation”. One example is land grabs: illegal land invasions and a large-scale extortion racket involving the unlawful sale of plots in the Fort Jackson area of the Eastern Cape have been occurring for some time, unabated and uncontrolled. More than one thousand hectares of land have been divided into roughly 15,000 plots which are being “sold” by a criminal gang for around R50 000 each, generating approximately R75 million for the racketeers.

(Imagine an operator “selling” plots of land just outside Washington DC for $500 a plot, pocketing huge cash profits on these transactions while the country simply looked on and the Washington police either turned a blind eye or were part of the sales themselves? It may sound outrageous and impossible in Washington but it happens daily in the ANC’s South Africa.)

+ FARM MURDERS AND FARM HANDOVERS. Three farm murders have occurred recently, hardly mentioned in the media, while yet another productive farm measuring 2000 hectares is given to 575 beneficiaries by the government. This sugarcane plantation yielding over 60,000 tonnes of sugar cane per season is to be “run” by 179 households. No one is holding their breath as to how long this travesty will last. One doesn’t want to be pessimistic, but the government record of successful land transfers is a 90% failure.

+ AND THE GOOD NEWS. Once again South Africa’s commercial famers buck the trend. While the rulers destroy, the farmers produce and grow and build and prosper.

++ In the 2025 season, the South African citrus industry delivered its strongest performance yet, packing 203.4million 15 kg cartons for global markets. This was the highest export volume ever recorded in the country. This marks a 22% increase on the 2024 figure. South Africa is the second largest citrus exporter in the world. Grapefruit exports were up 7% from 2024, mandarins 28%, lemons up 19%, navel oranges up 25% and Valencia oranges up 26,9%. (Farmers Weekly 24.11.25)

++ The Giba banana farm belonged to the Giba Community Property Association through a land transfer handover. It has had a sorry past, and was recapitalised by the Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture and leased to various farmers over the years. Farmer Jacques de Villiers took over the farm after a hurricane had destroyed the plantation. He had little more than experience and determination with which to work. This Farmers Weekly story (20.11.25) is a marvellous tribute to the resilience and tenacity of this farmer who brought this devastated piece of land to life on a shoestring budget in 2023. He had no assistance from the banks. His story is about skills that can only be developed from experience, amazing technical competence and good old fashioned grit. His transformation of this farm is a monument to the astounding agricultural talent existing at the tip of the African continent, and what South African farmers can do under the most onerous of circumstances. These are but two of the hundreds of examples of why South African farmers are the best in the world. Yet they are given little encouragement, even less praise and virtually no thanks from the government as they continue to put food on the table for 65 million people every day.