South Africa woke up to a diplomatic slap yesterday: US President Donald Trump has uninvited us from next year’s G20 summit in Miami.
He claims SA snubbed the US in the G20 handover. But Trump announced a boycott of the Joburg summit before it even began, initially citing debunked claims of “white genocide” against Afrikaner farmers. Tensions simmered throughout the summit, as the US skipped the talks, meaning no senior diplomat nor official was present for the ceremonial handover of the leaders’ declaration.
Sticking to protocol, Ramaphosa banged the gavel solo on Sunday, declaring the presidency passed ‘in name only’ to the US, and refusing a last-minute US request to hand over to a lower-level official. Washington collected the adopted declaration from DIRCO HQ on Tuesday morning, a far cry from the usual red-carpet moment.
Trump saw red, viewing SA’s actions as a major snub to the US. He took to Truth Social yesterday afternoon this time to declare that South Africa “will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20”. He also doubled down on his accusations of a “white genocide”, claims which have been widely debunked, and fact-checked.
Ramaphosa called the comments “regrettable”, saying South Africa “does not appreciate insults from another country,” and reaffirming that the nation remains a committed and active G20 member.
Despite the incoming host’s theatrics, this year’s historic Johannesburg summit was largely a success. Leaders from many of the world’s major and emerging powers turned up in Johannesburg: heavyweights from the Global South, Europe and beyond.
Leaders unanimously adopted a sweeping 122-point declaration, a win many thought impossible given weeks of geopolitical drama.
Highlights include:
🔹Debt relief push: Endorsed a stronger Common Framework for low-income countries’ debt sustainability, including transparency, IMF reviews, and innovative debt-for-nature swaps, where a country’s debt is reduced in exchange for commitments to environmental conservation and climate-related actions.
🔹Climate finance boost: Committed trillions for just energy transitions in Africa, tripling renewables by 2030
🔹Food security: Vowed to end hunger for 720 million people
But it wasn’t all kumbaya. French President Emmanuel Macron warned that deep divisions remain on climate policy and global conflicts.
Other points of contention were around the G20’s ongoing struggle to agree on language around major global flashpoints — especially Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s onslaught on Gaza.
And of course, there was some local drama: police shot and arrested a man after he attempted to hijack a G20-contracted vehicle with a toy gun. Only in Joburg.
Still, South Africa delivered a functional, forward-looking summit and handed the US a presidency it didn’t bother to show up for. The work, despite the theatrics, goes on.
