Ramaphosa Rejects Trump’s Warning Over G20 Membership

By Staff, Agencies

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday dismissed US President Donald Trump’s threat to exclude Pretoria from next year’s G20 summit, reaffirming South Africa’s status as a founding member of the international forum.

Trump had announced last Wednesday that South Africa would not be invited to the 2026 G20 summit in Florida, citing the country’s alleged refusal to hand over the G20 presidency to a US embassy representative at the closing ceremony. Pretoria, however, insists that the rotating presidency was duly transferred to a US official.

The dispute follows Washington’s boycott of the G20 leaders’ summit held in Johannesburg on November 22-23 under South Africa’s presidency. Trump repeated widely discredited claims that the country’s Black-majority government persecutes its white minority.

In his state of the nation address, Ramaphosa called Trump’s allegations of a “genocide against Afrikaners” and land confiscation from white citizens “blatant misinformation", reaffirming that “South Africa is and will remain a full, active and constructive member of the G20.”

Despite the diplomatic tensions, Ramaphosa highlighted the ongoing engagement of US businesses and civil society groups in G20-related events in Johannesburg last month.

“We value those constructive ties and will continue to work within the G20 framework,” he said, signaling Pretoria’s commitment to maintain dialogue.

US-South Africa tensions escalated after Washington expelled South Africa's Ebrahim Ambassador Rasool, who accused Trump of promoting a global white-supremacist agenda.

The US expelled Rasool, labeled him “race-baiting,” cut aid, and launched a white South African refugee program, prompting Pretoria to call the moves regrettable but reaffirm its commitment to diplomacy.

During a tense May 21 Oval Office meeting, Trump confronted Ramaphosa with alleged “white genocide” in South Africa, showing images he claimed depicted mass graves.

Trump showed videos claiming anti-white incitement, which Ramaphosa dismissed as baseless distortions, emphasizing that violence affects all South Africans and farm attacks are not systemic racial persecution.