Cyril Ramaphosa Wraps Up G20 Summit Amid US Boycott and Handover Dispute
The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the G20 summit in Johannesburg by striking a gavel, following his refusal of a American suggestion for him to hand over duties to a lower-ranking embassy official for the next summit in Florida.
Summit Marred by US Boycott
The host nation portrayed the two-day event 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 have gathered in the face of significant challenges and shown our capacity to unite, even in periods of hardship, to pursue a better world,” Ramaphosa stated in his final address.
Wrapping up his speech, he announced: “This ceremonial hammer of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now proceeds to the next president of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other again next year.” This was Ramaphosa’s sole reference of the nation absent 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 The Trump government had withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement on the initial day of his second term and has reversed many policies designed to tackle discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.
US Administration Reaction
US administration representative Anna Kelly claimed the president 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 robust US objections, highlights the reality that they have exploited their leadership role to weaken the group’s core values,” she remarked.
Transition Procedure Disagreement
South Africa had offered to arrange for an similarly ranked official to officially transfer the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Officials had stated it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to give it to the US acting ambassador.
South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, told reporters: “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 summit is scheduled to take place at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golf resort, which is under Trump corporate ownership.
Argentina, whose president Javier Milei did not attend, also refused to endorse the communique. Its foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, said: “In particular, it deals with the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that does not fully reflect its full complexity.”
The G20 communique stated: “We will work for a fair, inclusive, and enduring resolution in Sudan and the DRC, 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 nations and the European Union. The AU was added in 2023.
The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico's leader 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. Xi has delegated attending many international gatherings this year to China’s prime minister, Li Qiang.