Employment and Labour Deputy Minister, Judith Nemadzinga-Tshabalala said the Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting (LEMM) was more than an event, but an affirmation of multilateralism in action.
“We gather here today as custodians of a shared responsibility – to confront the injustices that persist in the world of work and to forge pathways toward inclusion, dignity and shared prosperity,” Nemadzinga-Tshabalala said.
She was delivering a speech today (30 July) during the start of the two-day Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting held at Fancourt Hotel and Country Estate in George, Western Cape Province.
The theme of the LEMM is: “Living and Working in an Unequal World: Ensuring Decent Work and Decent Lives”. It is aligned to South Africa’s G20 Presidency theme: “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability”.
Nemadzinga-Tshabalala said South Africa’s Presidency has been anchored in four overarching priorities. She said first, fostering inclusive growth and youth employment, ensuring that no young person is denied a fair opportunity for decent work.
Second, promoting gender equality in the workforce by addressing structural barriers and accelerating parity in both participation and pay; she said third, is reversing the decline in the labour income share to restore dignity and stability to working lives.
And lastly, it was harnessing digitisation to build an inclusive future of work, ensuring that innovation becomes an enabler -never a divider, Nemadzinga-Tshabalala said.
“These priorities were not merely conceptual commitments, but the foundation for real, measurable progress under our leadership.
“Today, we proudly present the Nelson Mandela Bay G20 Youth Target, which builds on the Antalya Goal by committing G20 members to reduce Not in Education, Employment and Training (NEET) rates by a further 20% by 2030, and to scale up youth employment strategies, skills development, and entrepreneurship.
“Alongside this, the Brisbane–eThekwini Goal renews our pledge to close the gender gap in labour market participation by 25% by 2030 and reduce the gender wage gap by 25% by 2030 from 2012 levels, thereby reaffirming our commitment to economic justice through equality,” Deputy Minister said.
She said South Africa’s G20 Roadmap Towards and Beyond the Brisbane Target sought to: increase the quantity and quality of women’s employment, tackling the gender pay gap, promoting a more even distribution of women and men across sectors and occupations, promoting a more balanced distribution of paid and unpaid work between women and men; and addressing discrimination and gender stereotypes in the labour market.
Nemadzinga-Tshabalala commended the sterling work of the chair of the G20 2025 Employment Working Group, saying its work has laid the foundation for a Ministerial Declaration that reflects both ambition and unity.
The G20 Employment Working Group declaration is expected to be adopted by the LEMM tomorrow.
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Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour