International US Secretary of State cancels G20 participation due to criticism of South Africa
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has canceled his participation in the meeting of the Group of Major Economies (G20) due to criticism of the host South Africa.
06.02.2025, 16:09
SDA
"I will NOT be attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg. South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriation of private property," he wrote in a post on Platform X.
The G20 foreign ministers will meet on February 20 and 21. It would probably also have been Rubio's first chance to meet some of the ministers in person - probably including Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. South Africa is chairing the G20 this year.
Law aims to compensate for apartheid injustice
South Africa has passed a law that allows land to be expropriated in the public interest to compensate for injustices committed during the racist apartheid era (1948 - 1994). US President Donald Trump has therefore threatened to cut off all financial aid to South Africa. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close confidant of Trump, is South African. He grew up in the country during the racist apartheid era.
South Africa's Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola stated that there was no arbitrary expropriation of land or private property. "Our G20 presidency is not limited to climate change, but also to the equitable treatment of countries in the Global South to ensure an equal global system for all. These are important principles that we want to continue to pursue and discuss with the United States."
