In an unprecedented move, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that South Africa would be excluded from the 2026 G20 summit in Miami, Florida, citing what he described as "horrific human rights violations" in the country. The decision, made public on November 26, 2025, via Trump’s Truth Social platform, has sent shockwaves through diplomatic circles and raised urgent questions about the future of the G20 and the principles underpinning global multilateralism.
Trump’s announcement followed the United States’ boycott of the recent G20 summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa. According to Daily Maverick, the U.S. President accused South Africa of persecuting "Afrikaners and other descendants of Dutch, French, and German settlers," claiming that "they are killing white people and randomly allowing them to seize their farms." Trump declared, "South Africa has demonstrated to the World they are not a country worthy of Membership anywhere, and we are going to stop all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately."
The G20, established as an international forum in 1999, brings together the world’s major developed and developing economies, representing roughly 80% of global GDP and two-thirds of the planet’s population. South Africa is the only African nation in the G20 and has been a full member since the group’s inception. If Trump’s exclusion of South Africa holds, it would mark the first time in the G20’s history that a member country has been barred from participating in a summit.
South Africa’s government, for its part, has responded with measured defiance. Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told Daily Maverick on November 27, 2025, "We should, by now, accept that at the highest level of political leadership there won’t be a reset of the relationship [with the US], notwithstanding the attempts and numerous efforts we have undertaken to get a reset in the relationship." Magwenya added, "If visas are denied, well, then we will have to move on and look beyond the G20 in the US," signaling Pretoria’s intention to focus on its relationships with the United Kingdom and European countries instead.
The immediate diplomatic dispute centers on the handover of the G20 presidency. Trump’s Truth Social post accused South Africa of refusing to hand over the G20 presidency to the acting U.S. ambassador at the end of the Johannesburg summit. South Africa, however, insisted that it was inappropriate for President Cyril Ramaphosa to pass the baton to a relatively junior official. Instead, an official of equivalent rank conducted the handover at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation offices. Despite this, the U.S. boycott continued, and Trump intensified his rhetoric, reiterating his claims about a so-called "white genocide" in South Africa—a claim widely debunked by international observers and condemned as misinformation by other world leaders.
President Ramaphosa, through a statement delivered by Magwenya, described Trump’s remarks as "regrettable" and reaffirmed South Africa’s commitment to the G20. "South Africa is a member of the G20 in its own name and right. Its G20 membership is at the behest of all other members. South Africa is a sovereign constitutional democratic country and does not appreciate insults from another country about its membership and worth in participating in global platforms," the statement read. Ramaphosa called on other G20 members to "reaffirm the forum’s continued operation in the spirit of multilateralism, based on consensus, with all members participating on an equal footing in all of its structures."
The 2025 G20 Leaders’ Declaration, adopted in Johannesburg without objection from all members except the absent United States, highlighted the broad support South Africa received for its presidency and priorities. Western leaders, in particular, recognized the significance of hosting the G20 on African soil for the first time. The Declaration committed members to work together under the U.S. presidency in 2026, with meetings scheduled in the UK in 2027 and the Republic of Korea in 2028.
But can the United States actually block South Africa’s participation in the G20? According to Clayson Monyela, head of diplomacy at South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the answer is no. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Monyela noted, "In 2022, the G20 rejected calls by some for Russia to be excluded. The G20 decided then that there was no procedure (therefore impossible) to exclude any member." Diplomats echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that expulsion requires consensus among all members—a threshold not met even during the most contentious moments involving Russia.
This procedural safeguard means that, formally, South Africa’s membership cannot be revoked unilaterally by the United States. However, the real challenge may come in practice: if Trump refuses to invite South Africa to the Miami summit or to preparatory meetings, the onus will fall on other G20 members. Will they protest or boycott the summit in solidarity with South Africa, or will they acquiesce to U.S. pressure? As Daily Maverick reports, the answer to this could have far-reaching implications for the future of the G20, potentially deepening divides between Global North and Global South members and testing the resilience of multilateral institutions.
Despite the U.S. boycott, South Africa’s G20 presidency was marked by notable achievements. The B20 Summit in Johannesburg, a business-focused offshoot of the G20, attracted nearly 600 American business leaders and culminated in a successful handover to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Ensuring that our investment climate remains conducive for US businesses that invest in our country is important," Magwenya stated, underlining Pretoria’s intention to maintain robust economic ties with American firms, regardless of political tensions at the highest levels.
Looking ahead, South Africa appears to be recalibrating its diplomatic strategy. Magwenya told Daily Maverick that the country’s "focus now is on working with other partners like France as the incoming president of the G7, and the UK as the 2027 G20 president to carry through the momentum from this year’s G20, in terms of the substantive issues coming out of the G20 2025 Declaration." Already, he noted, "there’s some alignment with both France and the UK in this regard." South Africa is also prioritizing "functional aspects" of its relationship with the U.S., such as business ties, civil society engagement, and "people-to-people exchanges."
The standoff between the U.S. and South Africa over G20 participation has become a focal point for broader debates about multilateralism, global governance, and the limits of American influence. While the outcome remains uncertain, the episode has already underscored the fragility of international forums and the complex interplay between national interests and global cooperation. For now, South Africa is looking beyond Miami, seeking new partnerships and reaffirming its place on the world stage—determined, it seems, not to be sidelined by a single country’s decision, however powerful that country may be.
