The US formally warned South Africa against pushing for a joint statement at this weekend’s Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg that the Trump administration is boycotting, according to a document seen by Bloomberg.
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The diplomatic stand-off is particularly awkward given it’s the first time the continent is hosting a G20 and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is passing the baton to US President Donald Trump at the end of this year.
Tensions between the two men came to a head at an Oval Office meeting in May, when Ramaphosa had to endure a dressing down in front of the cameras. Trump escalated the spat further by saying he wouldn’t attend the summit and followed up with a complete boycott of the event.
The US openly opposes South Africa’s G20 presidency and its core agenda of solidarity, equality and sustainability – part of Ramaphosa’s push for a more inclusive world order. That adds to Trump’s false accusations that Pretoria is conducting a genocide against White Afrikaners and expropriating land.
“Washington’s absence negates its role over the G20’s conclusions,” South African foreign ministry spokesman Chrispin Phiri said by phone on Wednesday. “We cannot allow coercion by absentia to become a viable tactic. It is a recipe for institutional paralysis and the breakdown of collective action.”
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Trump ambushes South Africa’s Ramaphosa with false ‘white genocide’ claims
Trump ambushes South Africa’s Ramaphosa with false ‘white genocide’ claims
In the diplomatic communication delivered on November 15, the US said it would neither participate in preparatory talks before the summit, nor the gathering of world leaders this weekend. It will block any outcome framed as a consensus G20 position because South Africa’s priorities “run counter to US policy views”, according to a copy of the document.