Overview
- President Donald Trump announced that South Africa will not be invited to the Miami G20 in 2026 and said the U.S. would halt payments and subsidies to Pretoria effective immediately.
- In a national address, President Cyril Ramaphosa called the move regrettable, labeled the allegations driving it as blatant misinformation, and reaffirmed South Africa’s status as a founding, full member of the G20.
- Accounts diverge over the ceremonial transfer of the G20 presidency, with Trump alleging a refusal at the summit’s close and South African officials saying they formally handed it to a U.S. embassy diplomat.
- South Africa’s central bank governor warned that excluding a member contradicts the G20’s consensus practice and could set a harmful precedent for the forum’s integrity.
- The U.S. boycotted the Johannesburg leaders’ summit, citing widely discredited claims of persecution of white South Africans, while Ramaphosa invited critics to present concerns through a National Dialogue and pledged continued engagement with Washington.