Ramaphosa sends a warning to one group of people in South Africa
President Cyril Ramaphosa sent a warning to people in South Africa spreading misinformation and straining relations with the United States—a campaign he said only hurts South Africa and its citizens
In a national address on 30 November, following the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg last weekend, Ramaphosa thanked South Africans for their hospitality, apologised for road closures, and praised the City of Johannesburg for its presentation during the event.
He also stressed that from the outset of the event, the leaders placed Africa’s growth and development at the heart of the G20’s agenda.
He said South Africa took on this responsibility at a time when the world is grappling with “complex challenges from wars and conflicts to rising inequality and the urgent threat of climate change.”
These pressures, he warned, are slowing global growth and weakening investment, and are especially severe in the global south.
He noted that South Africans feel these difficulties daily. “Our people are confronted each day with poverty, unemployment, and the high costs of living, often worsened by poor service delivery,” he said.
However, he argued that cooperation is starting to yield results. “We are beginning to see the green shoots of an emerging economic recovery.”
He highlighted falling unemployment rates, improving public finances, and a recent upgrade to the country’s sovereign credit rating. Ramaphosa also pointed to progress on issues such as gender-based violence.
He said the recent declaration of GBV and femicide as a national disaster “should provide us with a broader range of measures to intensify our shared effort to end this scourge.”
Turning back to the G20, the President said South Africa used its presidency to strengthen cooperation rather than division.
The G20’s agreements on debt relief, affordable financing, climate adaptation, critical minerals, and support for a just energy transition will all benefit developing countries, including South Africa.
Ramaphosa stressed that the agreements reached are only the beginning, and that South Africa will keep advocating for global action on inequality.
He highlighted the G20’s first-ever report on global inequality and the proposal for an international panel on the issue, similar to the IPCC for climate science.
A word of caution
However, the tone shifted when Ramaphosa addressed the United States’ absence from the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
He said it was “regrettable” that the US chose not to attend and “even more unfortunate” that its stated reasons relied on misinformation.
He noted that the US’s absence was due to “baseless and false allegations that South Africa is perpetrating genocide against Afrikaners and the confiscation of land from white people.”
He also responded to former US President Donald Trump’s recent comments suggesting South Africa would not be invited to the US-hosted G20.
Ramaphosa dismissed this outright and said that South Africa is one of the founding members of the G20. As such, the country will continue to participate as a full, active and constructive member.
While reaffirming goodwill towards the American people and the historical ties between the two countries, Ramaphosa issued a sharp warning to a particular group within South Africa.
He said the US administration’s stance had been influenced by “a sustained campaign of disinformation by groups and individuals within our country, in the United States and elsewhere.”
He warned that these actors are “endangering and undermining South Africa’s national interests, destroying South African jobs, and weakening our country’s relations with one of our most important partners.”
Ramaphosa reminded them that South Africa is a constitutional democracy with a Bill of Rights that guarantees equality under the law, upheld by an independent judiciary.
He stressed that South African problems must be solved by South Africans themselves.
He also noted that a national dialogue is now underway, which will invite citizens from all walks of life, of all races and creeds, to help “forge a new future for our country.”
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