REACTION: Oxfam South Africa Welcomes Launch of Global Coalition to Tax the Super-Rich
Attention: Editors
Seville, Spain — 2 July 2025
Oxfam South Africa (OZA) welcomes the launch of the Global Coalition to Tax the Super-Rich by South Africa, Brazil, and Spain at the Fourth United Nations Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) as a historic turning point in the global struggle for economic justice.
Spain, Brazil and South Africa’s new global coalition to tax the super-rich was launched at the Fourth Financing for Development Conference in Seville, Oxfam Tax Justice Policy Lead – Susana Ruiz said:
We welcome the leadership of Brazil, Spain and South Africa in calling for taxes on the super-rich. People around the world are pushing for more countries to reject the corrupting political influence of oligarchies. Taxation of the super-rich is a vital tool to secure sustainable development and fight inequalities.
The wealth of the richest 1% has surged $33.9 trillion since 2015, enough to end annual poverty 22 times, yet billionaires only pay around 0.3% in real taxes.
In a tense geopolitical environment, Spain, Brazil and South Africa have taken an important step in forging an alliance at the UN conference in Sevilla to show political will for taxation of the super-rich, leading the way for other countries to follow suit.
Speaking at the opening segment of the official side event on inequality and tax reform in Seville, themed ‘Taking action to combat inequalities: the role of progressive taxation and social protection systems’ Oxfam South Africa G20 Senior Policy Advisor – Isobel Frye addressed ministers, multilateral banks, and global leaders:
We commend the leadership shown by South Africa in co-launching this global tax alliance. It is long overdue. Inequality is manufactured; it is a result of policies that favour corporate elites and billionaires over womxn, workers, and communities. If we are serious about building caring, just societies, we must tax extreme wealth, expand fiscal space, and invest in universal public goods; especially care.
This year, the FFD in Seville, COP30 in Brazil and G20 in South Africa are key opportunities for international cooperation to advance calls for a tax on the super-rich and invest in a sustainable future that puts human rights and equality at its core.
The wealth of the few has been built on the unpaid and underpaid care work of the many—especially Black womxn. To build caring, feminist economies, we must tax extreme wealth and invest in universal public goods.
This collaborative alliance is symbolic of the solidarity in seizing a long-overdue opportunity to dismantle structural inequality, reclaim public power from oligarchic interests, and reinvest in financial muscle from the super rich 1% back into the hands of society.
Furthermore, the Sevilla Platform for Action on Care (SPA) must deliver measurable goals, binding commitments, and civil society oversight, anchored in the lived experiences of the global South. By doing so, we will secure more equal futures for all.
From a feminist lens, we must call this what it is: a systemic crisis of gendered and racialised inequality. From a decolonial perspective, we know that the economy has never been neutral—it has always been designed to benefit a few while extracting from Black womxn and marginalised workers. We are here to disrupt that. We cannot build caring societies with uncaring budgets, said Nkateko Chauke – Interim Executive Director of Oxfam South Africa
Sevilla has lit the spark. The road to G20 Leader’s Summit in South Africa, COP30 in Brazil, and World Summit on Sustainable Development in Qatar must now carry this flame forward—toward justice, dignity, and systems that centre care, not capital.
This is not the end—it is the beginning.
– END –
Editor’s Notes:
- Download the Oxfam report “From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy” which was launched ahead of the Fourth Financing for Development Conference with new analysis on economic inequality.
- Greenpeace and Oxfam International commissioned a study this month on public opinion on taxing the super-rich. The research was conducted by first party data company Dynata in May-June 2025, in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Kenya, Italy, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US. The survey had approximately 1200 respondents per country, with a margin of error of +-2.83%. Together, these countries represent close to half the world’s population. See the results here.
- Oxfam will be hosting a major high-level event together with Club de Madrid, at 7pm on July 1, 2025, in Seville, joined by high-level government representatives on the media briefing note. Journalists are invited to attend and will be prioritized for questions. Please register here.
- Moreover, an official side event on inequality and tax reform will take place at 2.30pm on July 1, 2025, at the FIBES Exhibition Centre room 20 joined by high-level government representatives from Brazil, Spain and South Africa, international organizations and global experts. See note here.
Media Enquiries:
Bongani Maseko
📧 ozacommunication@oxfam.org.za
📞 +27 61 545 9425
