Trump bars South Africa from next G20, cuts funding - Ramaphosa hits back

Tensions between South Africa and the United States reached an all time high on Wednesday night after US President Donald Trump announced that South Africa would be barred from attending the next G20 summit.

Trump, speaking on his social media platform Truth Social, said he would block South Africa’s participation in the 2026 G20 summit – set to be hosted in Miami – and halt all financial support to the country.

His remarks followed South Africa’s refusal to symbolically pass the G20 presidency to a senior US Embassy representative at the close of this year’s summit in Johannesburg.

"The United States did not attend the G20 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,” Trump posted.

“To put it more bluntly, they are killing white people and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them… At the conclusion of the G20, South Africa refused to hand off the G20 Presidency to a senior representative from our US Embassy, who attended the closing ceremony. Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20, which will be hosted in the great city of Miami, Florida next year.”

“South Africa has demonstrated to the world that they are not a country worthy of membership anywhere, and we are going to stop all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately,” Trump added.

In a late-night response, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said Ramaphosa had noted the statement regarding South Africa’s G20 participation.

“South Africa will continue to participate as a full, active and constructive member of the G20,” Magwenya said.

“We call on all members of the G20 to reaffirm its continued operation in the spirit of multilateralism, based on consensus, with all members participating on an equal footing in all of its structures. It is regrettable that, despite the efforts and numerous attempts by President Ramaphosa and his administration to reset diplomatic relations with the United States, President Trump continues to apply punitive measures against South Africa based on misinformation and distortions.”

Magwenya confirmed that the US was invited to all meetings held under South Africa’s G20 presidency but had chosen not to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg.

“South Africa is a member of the G20 in its own name and right. Its membership is endorsed by all other member states. South Africa is also a sovereign, constitutional and democratic country, and does not appreciate insults from another nation about its standing in global forums,” Magwenya said.

“South Africa will never insult another country or question its standing in the international community.”

Magwenya concluded by clarifying that the handover of the G20 presidency had occurred in line with protocol: “As the United States was not present at the summit, the instruments of the G20 Presidency were duly handed over to a US Embassy official at the headquarters of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation.”

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