Johannesburg Tightens Security Ahead of G20 as Diverse Protests Loom

South African police and military units staged a visible show of force in Johannesburg this week, deploying helicopters, motorcycle units and hundreds of officers ahead of the Group of 20 leaders' summit set to open this weekend.

The security display on Wednesday followed a decision to bolster resources by adding roughly 3,500 extra police officers and placing the army on standby under the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure — a unified command that coordinates police, military and intelligence agencies for high-profile events.

Deputy national commissioner for policing Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili told reporters authorities expect demonstrations in Johannesburg and other major cities. "We will allow that right [to protest] to be exercised," she said, "but within the proper directives and proper confines of the law."

Police have designated specific areas for demonstrators close to the summit venue, an exhibition centre adjacent to the country’s largest football stadium, and say preparations are aimed at balancing the right to protest with maintaining public order.

Who plans to protest

Organisers representing a broad range of causes have signalled plans to demonstrate. Expected participants include anticapitalist and climate activists, women's-rights groups protesting high levels of gender-based violence, anti-migrant organisations, and groups highlighting South Africa’s persistent problems of poverty and inequality.

The advocacy group Women for Change has called for a national shutdown on the eve of the summit, urging women to stay away from work in protest at the country's high rates of gender violence and femicide. "Until South Africa stops burying a woman every 2.5 hours, the G20 cannot speak of growth and progress," the group said.

Controversies and diplomatic tensions

A trade union representing some Afrikaner workers has drawn controversy with billboards around Johannesburg reading: “Welcome to the most RACE-REGULATED country in the world.” City authorities removed at least one of the boards, and the union, Solidarity, has threatened legal action. The billboards reference South Africa's affirmative action policies, which aim to broaden opportunities for Black citizens and have become part of a diplomatic dispute with the United States.

The United States has announced a boycott of the summit. Political commentators and officials have linked the boycott to claims about South Africa's domestic policies and treatment of minority communities. South African government officials rejected a U.S. request that no leaders' declaration be issued after the meeting, saying a country that declines to participate forfeits that leverage.

Meanwhile, a coalition of climate and inequality activists has organised an alternative summit in another part of Johannesburg beginning Thursday, describing the G20 gathering as largely "for the rich." Security officials say they are preparing to manage both the official summit and parallel events while aiming to protect public safety and the right to peaceful protest.

As the two-day summit approaches, authorities stress they will seek to allow lawful demonstrations while enforcing directives to prevent violence and disruption around the city and the official venue.