When Gratitude Becomes the Ceiling.

A Reflection on South Africa's G20 Moment.

NOBUKHOSI N. ZULU

Hosting the G20 should have been a moment of pride for South Africa. Instead, it reminded me how small our ambitions have become. In 2025, South Africa has had the privilege of hosting the G20 Summit and its accompanying side events. Earlier this year, I was invited to participate in a panel on Children and Dignity, focusing on the kind of education, support, and environment children need to thrive, beginning with access to early learning opportunities. I was there as a child rights expert specializing in law and policy, alongside a government employee from the Department of Education.

During the discussion, we examined some of the most pressing challenges in South Africa’s education system. I highlighted findings from the Thrive by Five Index, which reveal that many children are struggling and at risk of falling behind. Most cannot read for meaning by the age of ten. I also spoke about the vital role parents play as primary caregivers and how they form the best environment for children to grow up safely and succeed.

As these realities were raised, the government employee began to defend the state’s position. She argued that South Africa is one of the few countries where anyone can walk into a school and study for free. While this is constitutionally correct in principle, realizing that right is far from easy. There are simply not enough schools or classroom spaces for all children who need them, local or foreign.

What struck me most was not the defense itself, but what she said afterwards. When confronted with the facts, she paused and reflected, “You know what, from where I come from, growing up under apartheid, I think South Africa is doing great.” She explained that she had grown up in a time when Black people could not move freely, when education was not a constitutional right, and when there were no Black CEOs or Black children attending prestigious institutions such Harvard. Compared to that, she believed South Africa had come a long way.

That, I believe, is precisely the problem.

Too many of our leaders measure progress not against what is possible, but against what was once forbidden. Their benchmark is the memory of oppression. As long as things are better than before, they believe they are good enough. But progress defined only by comparison to the past is a narrow kind of progress. It traps us in gratitude rather than ambition.

South Africa has all the ingredients to be a great nation. It has natural wealth, skilled people, constitutional ideals, and international recognition. What it lacks is the leadership and vision to match its potential. Many of our leaders seem convinced that because things are not as bad as they once were, they must therefore be good. That is simply not true.

Sometimes this posture borders on deliberate denial. Earlier this year, President Ramaphosa asked South Africans to reflect on what is causing all our troubles. It was a strange question from a president presiding over corruption, unemployment, and widespread looting. Add to that the fact that over 80 percent of South Africa’s land remains in the hands of a white minority who make up only about seven percent of the population, and we see a democracy that is still structurally unequal.

So as the G20 convenes in South Africa, we must ask what our leaders truly bring to the table. How can they represent the interests of ordinary South Africans when their leadership is defined by the comfort of gratitude rather than the courage of conviction? The G20 exists for the world’s major economies to shape global financial policy. But how can South Africa negotiate confidently for its people when its representatives are simply grateful to be included? How can we challenge global inequities, break free from debt dependency, or redefine our place in the global order if our leaders are content just to have a seat at the table?

Until our leaders stop measuring progress by comparison with the past and start measuring it by the promise of our future, South Africa will continue to mistake survival for success.