A significant diplomatic rift has widened between the United States and South Africa after former President Donald Trump declared that South Africa would be barred from G20 meetings when the US hosts the forum in 2026.
The Provocation and South Africa's Rebuttal
The controversy stems from the recent G20 leaders' summit in Johannesburg, which the US boycotted. Trump, using his Truth Social platform, stated that South Africa will not receive an invitation to the 2026 G20, which is scheduled for Miami, Florida. He justified this punitive measure by claiming South Africa refused to hand over the G20 presidency to a US embassy representative at the closing ceremony.
South Africa's presidency issued a firm rebuttal, labelling Trump's comments as "regrettable" and based on "misinformation and distortions." The statement emphasised that South Africa is a sovereign member of the G20 in its own right and does not appreciate insults regarding its worthiness to participate in global platforms.
Roots of the Dispute: False Claims and Policy Shifts
This latest move extends a pre-existing row. Earlier this year, Trump repeated widely discredited claims that South Africa's government is "killing white people" and seizing land from white farmers. In February, he announced he was stopping aid to the nation, and in May, his administration began offering refugee status to white South Africans.
These allegations have been consistently refuted by the South African government and independent data. Police records from the last quarter of 2024 show that 12 murders were recorded on farms, a figure that includes black-owned smallholdings, out of nearly 7,000 murders nationwide. Land expropriation remains a complex legal issue, with courts having returned land to black owners displaced during apartheid in only a handful of cases after lengthy processes.
Protocol and the Path Forward
The immediate trigger for the exclusion was the handover ceremony. After boycotting the summit, the US demanded that the symbolic G20 presidency be passed to their acting ambassador. South Africa rejected this, stating it would be a breach of diplomatic protocol for President Cyril Ramaphosa to hand over to a "junior" diplomat.
Instead, South Africa hailed its hosting of the first G20 summit in Africa as a success for multilateralism, producing a leaders' communique focused on climate change and gender inequality—issues at odds with Trump's policy positions. As the diplomatic standoff continues, South Africa has expressed disappointment that efforts to reset relations with the US have been thwarted by what it sees as baseless accusations.
