🔗 Share this article

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the G20 summit in Johannesburg by striking a gavel, after rejecting a US proposal for him to transfer authority to a relatively junior embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by US Boycott

South Africa presented the 48-hour conference as a victory for global cooperation, but it was diminished by a withdrawal of the United States, which has repeatedly accused South Africa of discriminating against white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been widely discredited.

“We’ve met in the face of major obstacles and shown our capacity to unite, even in times of great difficulty, to pursue a better world,” the president declared in his final address.

Concluding his remarks, he announced: “This ceremonial hammer of this G20 summit officially concludes this summit and now moves on to the subsequent leader of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other again next year.” It represented Ramaphosa’s only mention of the country missing from the assembly of major global powers.

Summit Communique Highlights Global Warming and Equal Rights

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday emphasizing the need to address environmental crises and achieve “gender equality.” The Trump government had pulled out of the Paris environmental accord on the initial day of his second term and has overturned numerous measures aimed at combating discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.

White House Response

White House spokesperson 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, notwithstanding repeated and robust US objections, highlights the reality that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she remarked.

Handover Protocol Controversy

South Africa had proposed to organize for an equivalent “junior” diplomat to officially transfer the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Authorities explained it would breach protocol for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US interim envoy.

South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “We have done our part. We are done. It’s up to them. Should they choose to engage, we are ready.”

Future Summit and Other Notable Non-Attendances

The 2026 conference is set to occur at the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, which is under Trump corporate ownership.

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also refused to endorse the communique. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, said: “In particular, it deals with the protracted Middle Eastern dispute in a manner that fails to capture 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.”

G20 Background

The G20 was established following the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The AU was incorporated last year.

The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also absent from the summit. Putin is wanted by the ICC, to which South Africa is a signatory. Xi has delegated attending many international gatherings this year to China’s prime minister, Li Qiang.