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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by striking a gavel, following his refusal of a US proposal for him to hand over duties to a relatively junior embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Summit Marred by US Boycott

South Africa presented the 48-hour conference as a victory for global cooperation, but it was overshadowed by a boycott by the US, which has repeatedly accused South Africa of discriminating against white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been widely discredited.

“We have gathered in the face of major obstacles and shown our capacity to come together, even in times of great difficulty, to pursue a better world,” Ramaphosa stated in his closing speech.

Concluding his remarks, he noted: “This gavel of this G20 summit officially concludes this summit and now proceeds to the next president of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other again next year.” This was Ramaphosa’s sole reference of the nation absent from the gathering of the world’s largest economies.

Summit Communique Highlights Global Warming and Equal Rights

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday emphasizing the need to tackle climate change and achieve “gender equality.” Donald Trump’s administration had withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement on the initial day of his new mandate and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.

US Administration Reaction

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly claimed the president of “declining to enable a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.”

“This, coupled with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 summit statement, despite consistent and robust US objections, highlights the reality that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she remarked.

Handover Protocol Disagreement

South Africa had proposed to organize for an similarly ranked official to formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Authorities explained it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to give it to the US interim envoy.

South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, told reporters: “From us, the ball has moved. We are done. The decision is theirs. Should they choose to engage, we are ready.”

Future Summit and Additional Absences

The 2026 summit is set to occur at the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, which is under Trump corporate ownership.

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

The G20 document read: “We will work 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 wars around the globe.”

G20 Background

The G20 was established following the Asian financial crisis in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The African Union was added in 2023.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also absent from the summit. Putin is wanted by the ICC, to which South Africa is a member state. The Chinese president has assigned attending many international gatherings this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.