US President Donald Trump has said South Africa should not be part of the G20 and confirmed he will not attend the group’s summit in Johannesburg later this month.
Speaking at the American Business Forum in Miami on Wednesday, Mr Trump said South Africa “shouldn’t even be in the Gs anymore, because what’s happened there is bad”.
Vice-President JD Vance will represent the United States at the gathering, which takes place from 22 to 23 November. The summit marks the first time the G20 has been held on African soil.
“I’m not going… I’m not going to represent our country there. It shouldn’t be there,” Mr Trump told the forum.
Relations between Washington and Pretoria have deteriorated significantly during Mr Trump’s second term. Earlier this year, the president suspended all US aid to South Africa and launched a refugee programme specifically for white Afrikaners, claiming they were victims of “race-based discrimination”.
Mr Trump has repeatedly accused South Africa of confiscating land and treating “certain classes of people very badly”, calling it “a massive human rights violation”. The South African government has strongly denied these allegations.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told the Report Focus Focus his country was confident it would host a very successful summit.
Chrispin Phiri, another government spokesperson, said in a statement: “Drawing on our own journey from racial and ethnic division to democracy, South Africa is uniquely positioned to champion within the G20 a future of genuine solidarity, where shared prosperity bridges deep inequalities.”
The G20 comprises 19 major economies plus the European Union and African Union. Founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis, it represents about 85 per cent of global gross domestic product and two-thirds of the world’s population.
South Africa has chosen themes of solidarity, equality and sustainability for its presidency, with President Cyril Ramaphosa stating the country would “put Africa’s development at the top of the agenda”.
Tensions between the two leaders peaked during an Oval Office meeting in May when Mr Trump confronted Mr Ramaphosa by dimming the lights and presenting a video montage intended to support claims of “white genocide” in South Africa. Mr Ramaphosa firmly denied the allegations and called for a reset in bilateral relations.
Land reform remains a contentious issue in South Africa 30 years after the end of apartheid, with more than 70 per cent of commercial farmland still in the hands of the white minority. The government says it has no intention to seize land arbitrarily and none has been confiscated.
South Africa’s latest crime statistics do not indicate that more white people have fallen victim to violent crime than other racial groups.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have already boycotted G20 meetings ahead of the summit, in what observers say is an attempt to undermine South Africa’s presidency of the economic grouping.
Dr Andrew Gawthorpe from UK-based think-tank the Foreign Policy Centre told the said there is no formal procedure for removing a country from the G20 as it is not a treaty-based organisation.
“If a country was going to be kicked out, it would basically mean that it was excluded from the meetings – it wasn’t invited to the meetings by whoever was hosting the G20 that year,” he said.
“But the host country would be unlikely to take the decision to not invite another country unless there was agreement amongst the rest of the members to do that.”
The United States is scheduled to assume the G20 presidency after South Africa. Mr Trump has announced that the 2026 summit will be held at his family-owned Doral golf resort near Miami.
Despite the diplomatic tensions, South African International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola said the country welcomed Vice-President Vance’s participation and looked forward to interacting with him at the summit.
“The US can assign anyone that President Trump deems necessary, and we look forward to interacting with him on the platforms of the G20,” Mr Lamola said.
