President Cyril Ramaphosa will not hand the next presidency of the G20 to a US embassy representative after President Donald Trump refused to attend this weekend’s summit, the South African government said on Saturday.
The Trump administration has boycotted the Johannesburg meeting that wraps up on Sunday and said it would send the charge d’affaires of its US embassy in South Africa for the handover, with Washington assuming the 2026 presidency of the group of leading economies.
Foreign Affairs Minister Ronald Lamola told journalists that Ramaphosa “will not be handing over to the charge d’affaires from the US”.
“The United States is a member of the G20, and if they want to be represented, they can still send anyone at the right level,” he said.
Lamola explained that appropriate representation would be a head of state, minister, or a “special envoy appointed by the president”. Otherwise, a handover could take place privately at government offices between officials of matching rank.
Trump’s absence from the Johannesburg summit follows his administration’s withdrawal from various multilateral events and an ongoing feud with Pretoria over several issues, including claims that white South Africans are being persecuted.
Ahead of the summit, the US embassy informed South Africa that the meeting’s priorities “run counter” to Washington’s policy views, adding that no joint declaration could be issued due to the US absence and objections.
Despite this, the meeting of nearly two dozen world leaders adopted a leaders’ declaration calling for peace in Ukraine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the “Occupied Palestinian Territory”, as well as safeguards on the global supply of critical minerals.
“We cannot be held back by one country,” presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya told reporters.
