Out of order: South Africa blocks United States embassy's bid to attend G20 closing ceremony
President Cyril Ramaphosa has rejected the proposal by United States, which sought to send embassy officials to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg.
Image: AFP
The South African government has revealed that the United States will not be allowed to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit by sending its embassy’s chargé d’affaires to receive the presidency gavel from President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Addressing reporters at the summit in Johannesburg on Saturday morning, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed that US representatives would not attend.
“No, they are not attending. We have made our position very clear. This is a breach of protocol, what they were suggesting. You cannot have a head of state handing over the presidency and the leadership of such an important, premier forum for macro-economic issues and other related issues being handed over to a junior embassy official,” said Magwenya.
“I mean, it’s a breach of protocol. It has never happened before and it was never going to happen for the first time here in South Africa.”
In diplomatic practice, a chargé d’affaires is the lowest-ranking head of mission, typically appointed only when a country does not have an ambassador in place. Unlike an ambassador or minister, a chargé d’affaires does not present credentials to a host head of state and is generally viewed as a temporary or junior-level representative.
South Africa considers the G20 presidency handover a high-level ceremonial event, prompting concern that the US was downgrading its participation by assigning a chargé d’affaires to lead its delegation.
Earlier on Saturday, IOL reported that the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) had marked the United States absent from the G20 summit.
Speaking to journalists at the Nasrec Expo Centre, Dirco spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said the department had officially recorded the US as absent, shifting the summit’s focus firmly onto those present.
“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.”
The United States is set to take over the G20 presidency from South Africa.
IOL reported on Friday that the US had quietly reversed its earlier total boycott announcement by President Donald Trump, informing Dirco that it would now send a small delegation led by its chargé d’affaires in Pretoria, Marc D. Dillard.
The United States currently does not have an ambassador in Pretoria. US ambassador-designate Brent Bozell III is expected to take over the post left by Ambassador Reuben E. Brigety II, who resigned effective January 10, 2025, following the change of presidential administration.
A diplomatic note from the US Embassy to Dirco, seen by IOL, confirms the shift. In the note, numbered 3023/25, the embassy states that Dillard “will head the US delegation” and will “participate in the G20 Presidency handover ceremony as part of the closing session on November 23.”
The embassy also requested accreditation for an eight-member delegation, including plenary and viewing-room delegates, led by Dillard.
South Africa views the move as a diplomatic slight. Pretoria had expected a senior-level representative, given the significance of the G20 presidency handover. Ramaphosa’s stance suggests the ceremony may not proceed as planned unless Washington upgrades its delegation.
The development deepens tensions between Pretoria and Washington after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Ramaphosa of “running his mouth” on Thursday, sparking outrage in South Africa.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
IOL News