DIRCO rejects US last-minute attendance attempt at G20, marks them absent

International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has confirmed that they have marked the United States absent from the G20 summit in Johannesburg.

Speaking to journalists at the Nasrec Expo Centre on Saturday, DIRCO spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said the department had officially marked the US as absent, shifting the summit’s focus firmly onto the countries that chose to be in the room.

“The United States is not attending. We will mark them absent. And we have marked them absent,” Phiri said.

“The whole world is here and that’s what we want to focus on our agenda. Those who are not present are not present. It is what it is.”

IOL understands that the US tried to reapply for the accreditation but the deadline hit them.

The absence comes at a sensitive point in US-SA relations, strained in recent months by disagreements over global alignments, South Africa’s position on the Russia–Ukraine conflict, and ongoing trade tensions.

Washington’s decision not to send a senior delegation to a summit it will soon preside over has raised eyebrows across diplomatic circles.

The US is set to take over the G20 presidency next.

Questions intensified after US officials indicated that only a junior embassy representative might be available to receive the ceremonial handover of the G20 presidency, an offer Pretoria firmly rejected.

Phiri stressed that the Presidency spokesperson, [Vincent Magwenya] said President Cyril Ramaphosa had directly communicated that such a handover could not occur at a lower diplomatic level.

“We will not be handing over to a junior official here,” he said. “It’s a matter of process. They will be taking over the presidency, and that can be done at the appropriate level.”

Asked whether a senior American official might still attend Sunday’s final session, Phiri said South Africa has received no update.

But he stressed this would not affect the summit’s final declaration or disrupt the agenda.

“What’s going to happen here is a discussion with all the world leaders that are present. Those who are not here are not here,” he said.

“Our media should not be obsessed about people who are not in the room. What’s important is what’s being discussed in the room.”

Despite geopolitical fractures, Phiri said delegates are moving “closer to consensus,” with most technical work completed.

“We believe the leaders who are here will be able to edge closer to that consensus,” he said, even as the world’s biggest economy remains outside the door.

kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za

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