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The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by striking a gavel, following his refusal of a American suggestion for him to transfer authority to a relatively junior embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by American Absence

South Africa presented the 48-hour conference as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was overshadowed by a boycott by the US, which has repeatedly accused South Africa of showing bias toward white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been broadly refuted.

“We have gathered in the face of significant challenges and demonstrated our ability to come together, even in periods of hardship, to pursue a better world,” the president declared in his final address.

Wrapping up his speech, he noted: “This ceremonial hammer of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now moves on to the subsequent leader of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall reconvene next year.” This was Ramaphosa’s only mention of the nation absent from the assembly of major global powers.

G20 Declaration Focuses On Climate Change 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 pulled out of the Paris environmental accord 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

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly accused Ramaphosa of “refusing to facilitate a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.”

“This, combined with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 summit statement, despite consistent and strong American opposition, underscores the fact that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she remarked.

Handover Protocol Disagreement

South Africa had offered to arrange for an similarly ranked official to formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the diplomatic headquarters. Officials had stated it would breach protocol for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US interim envoy.

South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, told reporters: “We have done our part. We are done. The decision is theirs. Should they choose to engage, we are ready.”

Upcoming Gathering and Additional Absences

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

The nation of Argentina, led by President Javier Milei did not attend, also declined to support the communique. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, commented: “In particular, it deals with the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that fails to capture its full complexity.”

The G20 communique stated: “We will work for a fair, inclusive, and enduring resolution in Sudan and the DRC, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine, as well as resolving additional disputes and wars around the globe.”

Group of Twenty History

The G20 was established following the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The AU was added in 2023.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also not present at the meeting. Putin is wanted 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 prime minister, Li Qiang.