South Africa Boosts Security for G20 Summit Amid Protest Threats

South Africa is ramping up security ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg this weekend, deploying thousands of police officers and preparing for large-scale protests as the city gets ready to host world leaders.

About 3,500 additional police officers are being deployed and the army is on standby under the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure, which is responsible for the security of all major events, as Johannesburg prepares to host global leaders for the 2025 G20 Summit on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23.

“We are executing and implementing the security plan accordingly with more boots on the ground,” Deputy National Commissioner for Policing Lt. Gen. Tebello Mosikili told reporters on Nov. 18.

Authorities are expecting protests surrounding the events of the summit.

“We will allow that right [to protest] to be exercised,” Mosikili told reporters. “But within the proper directives and proper confines of the law.”

She noted that although the police will respect the right to peaceful assembly, any disruptions or damage to property will not be tolerated.

Designated speakers’ corners will be set up in Nasrec, a Johannesburg suburb, Mosikili said.

Airport authorities have also announced special measures. The head of Airports Co. South Africa said speakers’ corners will be established at international airports, to which any impromptu demonstrators will be “kindly” escorted by security.

Protests and US Boycott

Tensions rose earlier in November after a trade union representing South Africa’s Afrikaner white minority, Solidarity, put up billboards across Johannesburg reading, “Welcome to the most race-regulated country in the world.”

One billboard was removed by city authorities, prompting Solidarity to threaten legal action. The union said in a statement this week that local authorities were ordered to return the banner after a court ruling.

The posters refer to South Africa’s affirmative action laws designed to promote black economic empowerment. These policies have increasingly become a flashpoint in U.S.–South Africa relations after Washington earlier this month accused Pretoria of discriminating against Afrikaners.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Nov. 7 that no federal officials would attend the Johannesburg summit, accusing South Africa of human rights abuses against white Afrikaners and illegal land seizures.

In response, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation called Trump’s remarks “regrettable” and stated that his claims were factually and historically inaccurate.

Trump has also previously criticized South Africa’s policies on land expropriation and its recent moves at the International Court of Justice, where Pretoria accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, allegations Israel denies.

South African authorities anticipate multiple protest actions, including a planned national shutdown on Nov. 21 organized by advocacy group Women for Change.

The group has urged its supporters to withdraw from all paid and unpaid work on the eve of the summit to draw attention to South Africa’s rates of gender-based violence.

“Until South Africa stops burying a woman every 2.5 hours, the G20 cannot speak of growth and progress,” the organization said in an Oct. 29 post on X. “We demand that Gender-Based Violence and Femicide be declared a National Disaster. … Join the G20 Women’s Shutdown. Withdraw Your Power on 21 November.”

World leaders are expected to discuss global economic and environmental issues as part of the summit.

South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile said on Nov. 18 that summit topics will include strengthening disaster resilience, ensuring debt sustainability for low-income countries, mobilizing finance for a just energy transition, and harnessing critical minerals for inclusive growth.

The G20 brings together 19 nations, including the United States, China, India, Brazil, and the UK, plus the European Union and, since 2023, the African Union. South Africa holds the rotating G20 presidency from December 2024 through November 2025, after which the United States is set to take over.