Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday described as “regrettable” the announcement by US President Donald Trump that South Africa would not be invited to take part in next year’s G-20 Leaders’ Summit in Florida, USA, the media reported.
In a social media post, Trump complained South Africa had refused to hand over the G-20 presidency to a US embassy representative at last week’s summit in Johannesburg.
“Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G-20, which will be hosted in the Great City of Miami, Florida, next year.”
In his Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump said South Africa had “demonstrated to the world they were not a country worthy of membership anywhere,” and announced a stop to “all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately.”
Trump also criticised the South African government over what he described as “horrific Human Rights abuses.”
In May, during a White House meeting with Ramaphosa, Trump had lodged a similar complaint on the basis of some print media clippings–but with no other evidence.
Although members of the G-20 – a gathering of the world’s 20 biggest economies – do not need an invite but they can possibly be barred through visa restrictions.
Only last week, Trump boycotted G-20’s Johannesburg Leaders’ Summit (November 22-23, 2025), claiming that South Africa’s White minority—Afrikaners– was the victim of large-scale killings and land grabs.
In a statement, President Ramaphosa said the US was expected to participate, “but unfortunately, it elected not to attend the G-20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg out of its own volition.” He, however, noted that some US businesses and civil society entities were present.
He said that since the official US delegation was not there, “instruments of the G-20 Presidency were duly handed over to a US Embassy official at the Headquarters of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation.”
The low-key handover may have further angered Trump, who has been critical of the South African government’s domestic and foreign policies.
He has in the past claimed that a White genocide was taking place in South Africa, and, on Wednesday, he even claimed the government was “killing White people and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them.”
The South African government has consistently rejected such claims as widely discredited and lacking reliable evidence.
President Ramaphosa said it was regrettable that, despite efforts to reset relations with the US, Trump continued “to apply punitive measures against South Africa based on misinformation and distortions about our country.”
South African officials have called for solidarity and urged other G-20 members to defend the integrity of the gathering and the rights of all its member states.
The G-20 summit, which was for the first time held in Africa, ended with a joint declaration committing to “multilateral co-operation” on climate change mitigation and economic inequality.
The declaration was adopted despite objections from the US, which has accused South Africa of weaponizing its leadership of the group this year.
Calling the Summit hosted by South Africa this year as one of the most successful summits, Ramaphosa, however, said, “The summit produced a declaration that affirmed the indisputable strength and value of multilateralism in response to the most pressing challenges facing the world.”
Reacting to the Trump remarks, he said, as one of the founding members of the G-20, South Africa has always valued the spirit of consensus, collaboration and partnership that defines the G-20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation.
He added, “Its G-20 membership is at the behest of all other members. South Africa is a sovereign constitutional democratic country and does not appreciate insults from another country about its membership and worth in participating in global platforms. South Africa respects the sovereignty of all countries and will never insult or demean another country or its standing and worthiness in the community of nations.”
He appreciated the participation by US entities such as businesses and civil society organisations in large numbers in G20 related activities such as the B20 and the G20 Social.
In a post on his social media handle Truth Social, Trump wrote, “The United States did not attend the G-20 in South Africa because the South African Government refuses to acknowledge or address the horrific human rights abuses endured by Afrikaners and other descendants of Dutch, French, and German settlers.”
“To put it more bluntly, they are killing White people and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them,” he added.
Trump also criticised major US media outlets for not reporting on the issue. “Perhaps, worst of all, the soon to be out of business New York Times and the Fake News Media won’t issue a word against this genocide. That’s why all the Liars and Pretenders of the Radical Left Media are going out of business!” he said.