International South Africa does not want to symbolically hand over the G20 presidency to the USA
South Africa does not want to symbolically hand over the annually rotating G20 presidency to the USA on Sunday. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said this to journalists during the G20 summit of leading industrialized and emerging economies. The presidency is normally ceremonially handed over from the current host country to the next chairing country at the end of the meeting - which is the USA.
22.11.2025, 21:33
SDA
However, the government under US President Donald Trump is boycotting the first G20 summit on African soil. Trump is complaining of discrimination against white minorities in South Africa, particularly the so-called Afrikaners, who are descendants of Dutch settlers. South Africa rejects the accusations as unfounded. Experts also see them as unjustified.
The USA is therefore not taking part in the summit discussions. According to Magwenya, however, they were planning to send an embassy representative to the handover of the chairmanship on Sunday. This is unacceptable for South Africa. "This is a breach of protocol. This has never happened before and would never happen here in South Africa," said the spokesperson. He described the USA's decision to stay away from the summit as the largest economy as "tragic".
The USA had assigned the current head of the embassy to take over the chairmanship for the American side at short notice, said South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola. South Africa will now appoint an official at the same level. The handover will therefore take place next week in the capital Pretoria.
South Africa is the host of the two-day meeting, which is taking place this weekend in the economic metropolis of Johannesburg. The G20 group consists of 19 countries, the European Union and the African Union. The G20 summit is scheduled to take place in Miami next year.
