Ramaphosa responds to latest blow from the United States
South Africa will continue to engage as a full member of the Group of 20 despite US leader Donald Trump’s call to exclude the country from next year’s gathering, President Cyril Ramaphosa said a week after the end of his yearlong leadership of the forum.
“South Africa is one of the founding members of the G-20 and South Africa is therefore a member of the G-20 in its own name and right,” Ramaphosa said in a television address Sunday.
“We will continue to participate as a full, active, and constructive member.”
Ramaphosa steered the G-20 this year amid rising geopolitical tensions and heightened protectionism brought on by Trump.
The US openly opposed South Africa’s presidency of the grouping and boycotted the leaders’ summit in Johannesburg last week, adding to the US leader’s false accusations that Pretoria is conducting a genocide against White Afrikaners and expropriating land.
Ramaphosa said while it is regrettable that the US declined to participate in the leaders’ summit because of unfounded claims, “South Africa remains a firm and an unwavering friend of the American people.”
Crime statistics show South Africa has an average of 70 murders daily, mostly of Black citizens. And while unlawful land invasions by individuals take place, the state itself has never seized property.
Trump also warned against adopting a G-20 declaration.
Despite that, Ramaphosa managed to move for an early acceptance of a joint statement that pushes for global debt reforms, tackles climate finance and advocates for multilateralism, among other points.
The US will formally takeover the presidency of the bloc on 1 December, and Trump has said his nation won’t invite South Africa to next year’s summit at his National Doral Golf Club in Miami.
He also threatened to cut all aid to the country. Before that, Pretoria had already braced to be blocked from the 2026 gathering.
Earlier this year, Ramaphosa set up a panel that includes business leaders, actors and the captain of its national rugby team to guide the talks on the country’s development path amid a weak economy.
The project is set to cost about R740 million.
He called on “those who are spreading misinformation” about the country to bring their concerns and their solutions to the national dialogue.
“We must never allow others to try to redefine our country and cause divisions amongst us, or dictate who we are as a nation. We know who we are, he said.
“South African problems must be solved by South Africans themselves.”
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