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The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, after rejecting a American suggestion for him to transfer authority to a relatively junior embassy official for the upcoming gathering in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by US Boycott

South Africa presented the two-day event as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was diminished 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’ve met in the face of major obstacles and shown our capacity to unite, even in periods of hardship, to strive for global improvement,” Ramaphosa stated in his final address.

Wrapping up his speech, he announced: “This gavel of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now proceeds to the subsequent leader of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall reconvene next year.” This was Ramaphosa’s sole reference of the country missing from the gathering of the world’s largest economies.

Summit Communique Focuses On Global Warming and Equal Rights

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday emphasizing the need to tackle climate change and achieve “equal opportunities for all genders.” Donald Trump’s administration had pulled out of the Paris climate agreement on the initial day of his new mandate and has reversed many policies aimed at combating 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, coupled with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 summit statement, notwithstanding repeated and strong American opposition, underscores the fact that they have exploited their leadership role to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she remarked.

Handover Protocol Disagreement

South Africa had offered to arrange for an equivalent “junior” diplomat to formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the diplomatic headquarters. Authorities explained it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US interim envoy.

South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “From us, the ball has moved. We are done. The decision is theirs. If they want to come, we are available.”

Future Summit and Additional Absences

The 2026 summit is scheduled to take place at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golf resort, which is under Trump corporate ownership.

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei did not attend, also declined to support the declaration. Its foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, commented: “In particular, it deals with the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that does not fully reflect its entire intricacy.”

The G20 document read: “We are committed for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as resolving additional disputes and global hostilities.”

G20 Background

The G20 was founded in the wake of the Asian financial crisis in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The AU was added in 2023.

The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Chinese President 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 participation in numerous global events this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.