Cyril Ramaphosa Wraps Up G20 Summit Amid American Withdrawal and Handover Dispute
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by striking a gavel, following his refusal of a American suggestion for him to hand over duties to a lower-ranking embassy official for the upcoming gathering in Florida.
Summit Marred by US Boycott
South Africa presented the two-day event as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was overshadowed by a withdrawal of the United States, which has consistently alleged South Africa of showing bias toward white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been broadly refuted.
“We have gathered in the face of major obstacles and shown our capacity to come together, even in periods of hardship, to strive for global improvement,” Ramaphosa stated in his closing speech.
Wrapping up his speech, he noted: “This gavel of this G20 summit officially concludes this summit and now moves on to the next president of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other again next year.” It represented Ramaphosa’s sole reference of the country missing from the gathering of the world’s largest economies.
G20 Declaration Focuses On Climate Change and Gender Equality
The G20 released a statement on Saturday stressing the importance to address environmental crises and achieve “equal opportunities for all genders.” Donald Trump’s administration had pulled out of the Paris environmental accord on the first day of his second term and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.
US Administration Reaction
US administration representative Anna Kelly claimed the president of “refusing to facilitate a smooth transition of the G20 presidency.”
“This, combined with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 summit statement, despite consistent and robust US objections, highlights the reality that they have exploited their leadership role to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she remarked.
Handover Protocol Controversy
South Africa had offered to arrange for an similarly ranked official to formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Authorities explained it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to give it to the US interim envoy.
South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “From us, the ball has moved. Our role is complete. The decision is theirs. If they want to come, we are available.”
Future Summit and Additional Absences
The 2026 conference is scheduled to take place at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golfing facility, which is owned by the Trump Organization.
Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also declined to support the declaration. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, said: “In particular, it deals with the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that does not fully reflect its full complexity.”
The G20 communique stated: “We are committed for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Sudan and the DRC, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as resolving additional disputes and wars around the globe.”
Group of Twenty History
The G20 was established following the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The African Union was incorporated last year.
The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also not present at the meeting. The Russian president faces an arrest warrant by the international criminal court, to which South Africa is a member state. The Chinese president has assigned attending many international gatherings this year to China’s prime minister, Li Qiang.