JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has responded to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration that his administration, should he be re-elected, will not invite South Africa to the 2026 G20 summit hosted in Miami, Florida. Trump’s decision follows a dispute over the transfer of the G20 presidency from South Africa at last week’s summit in Johannesburg.
Trump claimed South africa refused to hand over the G20 presidency to a U.S. embassy representative. Though, Ramaphosa stated that with the U.S. delegation absent,”instruments of the G20 Presidency were duly handed over to a US Embassy official at the Headquarters of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation.”
The disagreement stems from Trump’s boycott of the Johannesburg summit, prompted by what he described as “large-scale killings and land grabs” targeting South Africa’s white minority – a claim widely discredited. He reiterated this claim on Wednesday, alleging the South african government was “killing white people and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them.” The South african government has consistently refuted these assertions as lacking reliable evidence.
Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that South Africa had “demonstrated to the world thay were not a country worthy of membership anywhere” and vowed to halt “all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately.”
Ramaphosa expressed regret that, despite efforts to improve relations, Trump continues “to apply punitive measures against South Africa based on misinformation and distortions about our country.” South African officials have appealed to other G20 members to uphold the integrity of the group and defend the rights of its member states.
The G20 summit, the first held in Africa, concluded with a joint declaration committing to “multilateral co-operation” on climate change and economic inequality, despite objections from the U.S.,which accused South Africa of using its G20 leadership to its advantage.
While G20 membership doesn’t require formal invitations, countries can be effectively barred through visa restrictions.
