November 17, 2025.

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lynne Davies.

Making headlines: Ramaphosa touts progress as G20 faces boycotts, scepticism; Car makers, Numsa sign three-year wage deal; and Ethiopia says three dead in Marburg virus outbreak

As South Africa hosts the G20 leadership summit this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa has positioned the moment as evidence of national progress. Yet the broader economic picture remains mixed, with many of the country’s underlying structural problems persisting despite pockets of improvement.

Ramaphosa’s upbeat public messaging has been somewhat undermined by the fact that the leaders from several of the world’s leading economies have declined to attend the G20, including US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and Argentinian President Javier Milei. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s attendance also remains uncertain.

Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busisiwe Mavuso said the developments are unfortunate, particularly as the US will be chairing the G20 next year. She said it also provides a stark illustration to the political leaders who will be attending of why the rules-based trading system needs to be protected for international prosperity.

The Automobile Manufacturers Employers Organisation and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa have finally signed a wage agreement, following a protracted process that included nine rounds of negotiations and a declared deadlock.

The three-year deal allows for a 7% across-the-board wage increase in the first year, backdated to July 1, 2025, and a 5.5% increase in both years two and three.

Eligible employees will also receive a R12 500 once-off taxable gratuity and improved employee benefits, including increased transport and housing allowances, as well as enhanced short-time compensation.

Ameo chairperson Abey Kgotle said the agreement is a testament to the maturity of the social partnership under the National Bargaining Forum.

Three people confirmed to have contracted the Marburg virus have died, while another three deaths are suspected to be linked to the highly contagious haemorrhagic disease, Ethiopia's health ministry has said.

The announcement follows Ethiopia's confirmation of an outbreak of Marburg, a highly-contagious and haemorrhagic infection in a town in the country's Southern Ethiopia Region on Friday, with at least nice cases identified.

The Ethiopian Public Health Institute's reference laboratory has confirmed that three people have died from the virus. An additional three fatalities are being investigated for a possible connection to the disease.

The ministry did not give a new overall number of cases but said 129 people who were in contact with the confirmed cases had been isolated and are being monitored.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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