South Africa's President Brings to a Close G20 Summit Following US Boycott and Handover Dispute
The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the G20 summit in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, after rejecting a US proposal for him to transfer authority to a relatively junior embassy official for the next summit in Florida.
Summit Marred by US Boycott
South Africa presented the 48-hour conference as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was overshadowed by a boycott by the US, which has consistently alleged South Africa of showing bias toward white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been broadly refuted.
“We’ve met in the face of major obstacles and demonstrated our ability to unite, even in times of great difficulty, to strive for global improvement,” the president declared in his closing speech.
Concluding his remarks, he announced: “This gavel of this G20 summit officially concludes this summit and now proceeds to the subsequent leader of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall reconvene next year.” This was Ramaphosa’s sole reference of the country missing from the gathering of the world’s largest economies.
G20 Declaration Highlights Climate Change and Equal Rights
The G20 released a statement on Saturday emphasizing the need to tackle climate change and achieve “gender equality.” The Trump government had withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement on the first day of his new mandate and has reversed many policies designed to tackle discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.
US Administration Reaction
US administration representative Anna Kelly accused Ramaphosa of “refusing to facilitate a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.”
“This, coupled with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 summit statement, despite consistent and strong American opposition, underscores the fact that they have exploited their leadership role to weaken the group’s core values,” she stated.
Transition Procedure Disagreement
South Africa had proposed to organize for an similarly ranked official to formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the diplomatic headquarters. Officials had stated it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to give it to the US acting ambassador.
South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “We have done our part. We are done. It’s up to them. If they want to come, we are available.”
Upcoming Gathering and Other Notable Non-Attendances
The 2026 conference is scheduled to take place at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golfing facility, which is under Trump corporate ownership.
The nation of Argentina, led by President Javier Milei skipped the summit, also refused to endorse the communique. Its foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, said: “Specifically it addresses the protracted Middle Eastern dispute in a manner that does not fully reflect its entire intricacy.”
The G20 document read: “We will work for a fair, inclusive, and enduring resolution in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine, as well as ending other conflicts and global hostilities.”
Group of Twenty History
The G20 was founded in the wake of the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The African Union was added in 2023.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also absent from the summit. The Russian president faces an arrest warrant by the international criminal court, to which South Africa is a member state. The Chinese president has assigned attending many international gatherings this year to China’s prime minister, Li Qiang.
