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Zane Dangor. Picture: REUTERS/YVES HERMAN
Zane Dangor. Picture: REUTERS/YVES HERMAN

The SA government says the International Monetary Fund (IMF), EU and the US are open to revising the high interest rates at which developing countries borrow money when SA hosts the G20 leaders summit in November. 

The G20 is an international forum of developing and developed countries that seeks solutions to global economic and financial challenges. 

“Many developing countries are incredibly indebted. In many countries, more than 40% of national budgets are spent on servicing debt and (then) a lot less can be spent on critical services such as health and education, which then as a result causes political instability,” said department of international relations & cooperation director-general Zane Dangor in an interview with Business Day.

Dangor is SA’s sherpa (ambassador) to the G20.

“It is not because most of these countries are reckless in borrowing. The cost at which they borrow is so high. We are making this argument to the G20 with analysis based on details and facts with a view to changing the world for the better,” Dangor said. 

Developed countries borrow at lower interest rates than developing countries and changing this reality would help neutralise the existential threat the Brics expansion poses to the globe’s economic superpowers.   

The expanded Brics+ bloc, including China and Russia, has arguably been the engine of global economic growth in recent years, accounting for about 37% of the world’s GDP.

With a master’s degree in law as well as public and development management, Dangor is accustomed to picking fights with bullies, he admits. 

This comes after SA dared to take the Palestinian fight to the International Court of Justice in 2024 and won substantial international support for its arguments that Israel was committing genocide. 

The court issued warrants of arrest in November against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Since then, the US has negotiated a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, but it is unclear if that will hold given that newly re-elected US President Donald Trump is on record saying Netanyahu “should do what needs to be done”. 

“The Palestinian matter was ground breaking. International criminal courts have until now been usurped by the world’s global super powers, but those superpowers have changed.

“For the first time, the oppressed were given the same space as the oppressor because we had a superb legal team. It is not something we wanted to do but we had to do it because all criminals should be treated alike, especially for war crimes; they are crimes against humanity,” Dangor said.

However, he said he was not taking this battle to the G20 leaders summit.

“The G20 is about pushing our interests as developing countries around the world. Africa has the solutions to African problems, we just want a fair chance to grow our economies. The same chance developed countries have had for centuries upon centuries now,” Dangor said.

omarjeeh@businesslive.co.za

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