Johannesburg: Insisting that South Africa will not be “bullied by anyone”, the country’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday took aim at the United States, insisting that the G20 declaration will proceed, with or without the United States.
“The talks are going extremely well. I am confident we are moving towards the declaration, and they are now just dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s,” the South African media quoted Ramaphosa as saying while replying to a question on whether a declaration would be issued following the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg this weekend.
Ramaphosa was speaking on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of the G20 Social Summit in Boksburg on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump has announced that no American government officials will attend this year’s Group of 20 (G20) summit in South Africa, accusing the host nation of mistreating its minority white farmers.
“It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” Trump wrote on his social media platform earlier this month, claiming that the South African government has allowed “abuses” against Afrikaners, including violence, killings, and land seizures.
“Afrikaners (People who are descended from Dutch settlers, and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated. No US Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue. I look forward to hosting the 2026 G20 in Miami, Florida!,” he added.
Trump had previously said he would not personally attend the summit, which brings together leaders from the world’s largest and emerging economies.
The decision represents a rare diplomatic boycott of a major global forum by the United States. It also underscores the Trump administration’s increasingly confrontational stance towards South Africa.
The South African government has repeatedly rejected US accusations of discrimination, saying that white South Africans continue to have higher living standards than the Black majority population, decades after the end of apartheid. Ramaphosa has previously told Trump that reports of widespread persecution of white farmers were “completely false.”
South Africa currently holds the rotating presidency of the G20, with the United States set to assume the role next year.
Despite Washington’s absence, the summit is going ahead as planned, with world leaders focusing on global economic growth, energy transition, and development cooperation.
(IANS)
