South Africa Protests Exclusion from G20 Summit by Trump
According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing Mehr News Agency and Russia Today, Donald Trump announced that South Africa will not be invited to next year’s G20 summit, which he plans to hold at his Miami golf resort. On the social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote that South Africa “has shown itself not worthy of membership in any institution” and renewed accusations against the country for “the deadly persecution of white farmers.”
Pretoria responded by affirming that South Africa is a legitimate member of the G20,with membership status steadfast by other member countries. The South African presidency stated that it is indeed “a sovereign constitutional democracy and will not accept insults from any country regarding its membership or worthiness to participate in global forums.” It also confirmed its commitment to attend all future G20 meetings.
Tensions between the two nations have escalated over various domestic and foreign policies, reaching a crisis point after Washington’s absence at last week’s G20 summit in Johannesburg. One key issue has been South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of genocide in Gaza.
Trump also refused to symbolically hand over the G20 presidency from South Africa to the United States following last week’s Johannesburg summit. In contrast, South Africa held a modest ceremony on Tuesday at its Foreign Ministry where it formally transferred chairmanship of the group to a U.S. embassy representative while emphasizing Washington’s need for “appropriate-level” engagement.
