South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has described as 'regrettable' the announcement by US President Donald Trump that South Africa would not be invited to take part in next year's G20 summit in Florida.
In a social media post, Trump stated that South Africa had refused to hand over the G20 presidency to a US embassy representative at last week's summit in Johannesburg. 'Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20, which will be hosted in the Great City of Miami, Florida next year.'
Members of the G20 – a gathering of the world's biggest economies - do not need an invite but can possibly be barred through visa restrictions.
Trump boycotted the Johannesburg summit due to a widely discredited claim that South Africa's white minority is facing large-scale violence and land grabs.
Ramaphosa remarked that the US had been expected to participate, but it chose not to attend the G20 Leaders Summit in Johannesburg on its own accord. However, he noted that some United States businesses and civil society entities were present at the event.
Since the US delegation was absent, the instruments of the G20 Presidency were transferred to a US Embassy official at the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
This low-key handover seems to have added to Trump's frustration, who has been openly critical of the South African government's policies. He has previously claimed that a white genocide is occurring in South Africa and reiterated these views recently, asserting that the government is 'killing white people' and inequitably allowing their farms to be taken.
South African officials have continuously refuted such claims, characterizing them as unfounded and lacking credible evidence.
Ramaphosa regretted that despite efforts to mend relations with the US, Trump continues to impose punitive measures based on misinformation about South Africa.
In his Truth Social post, Trump declared that South Africa had 'demonstrated to the world they were not a country worthy of membership anywhere' and announced the cessation of 'all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately.'
South African officials have called for unity among G20 members to defend the integrity of the group and advocate for the rights of all member states.
The G20 summit, which was held in Africa for the first time, concluded with a joint declaration committing to 'multilateral cooperation' on climate change and economic inequality, despite objections from the US, which accused South Africa of politicizing its leadership role this year.
