🔗 Share this article South Africa's President Brings to a Close G20 Summit Following American Withdrawal and Handover Dispute The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by striking a gavel, following his refusal of a American suggestion for him to hand over duties to a relatively junior embassy official for the upcoming gathering in Florida. Event Overshadowed 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 widely discredited. “We’ve met in the face of significant challenges and shown our capacity to unite, even in times of great difficulty, to strive for global improvement,” 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 moves on 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 country missing from the assembly of major global powers. Summit Communique Focuses On Climate Change and Equal Rights The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday stressing the importance to address environmental crises and achieve “gender equality.” The Trump government had withdrawn from the Paris environmental accord on the initial day of his second term and has reversed many policies aimed at combating sexism, racism and homophobia. White House Response White House spokesperson Anna Kelly claimed the president of “refusing to facilitate a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.” “This, coupled with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 leaders’ declaration, notwithstanding repeated 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 formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the diplomatic headquarters. Officials had stated it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US interim envoy. South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “From us, the ball has moved. We are done. It’s up to them. If they want to come, we are available.” Upcoming Gathering and Additional Absences The 2026 summit is scheduled to take place at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golf resort, which is owned by the Trump Organization. Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also declined to support the communique. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, commented: “Specifically it addresses the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that does not fully reflect its full complexity.” The G20 communique stated: “We are committed 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 countries plus the EU. The AU was added in 2023. Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s 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 member state. The Chinese president has assigned attending many international gatherings this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.