President Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed South Africa’s place in the G20, rejecting his United States counterpart Donald Trump’s claim that the country would be excluded from next year’s summit (X)
President Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed South Africa’s place in the G20, rejecting his United States counterpart Donald Trump’s claim that the country would be excluded from next year’s summit and warning that a “campaign of disinformation” was undermining national interests and eroding trust between partners.
In an address to the nation on Sunday night, Ramaphosa said South Africa remained a founding and full member of the G20 “in its own name and right” and would attend the 2026 summit in Miami as “a full, active and constructive member.”
He described Trump’s often-repeated allegations of genocide against Afrikaners and land confiscation as “untrue statements” that risked damaging relations between the two countries.
Pretoria had formally handed over the G20 presidency to the United States “in accordance with all diplomatic protocols”, Ramaphosa said, expressing hope that the handover would mark “a year of cooperation rather than confrontation”.
He praised America as long-standing friends of South Africa — recalling the solidarity movement that supported the country’s struggle for democracy — and said Pretoria would continue to engage Washington “with respect and dignity as equal sovereign nations”.
Ramaphosa warned that groups and individuals spreading falsehoods about South Africa, both domestically and abroad, were “destroying jobs and weakening one of our most important relationships”.
He urged citizens to resist efforts to divide the country, adding, “We must never allow others to redefine who we are. South African problems must be solved by South Africans themselves.”
He said South Africa’s G20 presidency restored confidence in the country’s leadership and showed that Africa could lead global conversations on debt, climate change and inequality with credibility and purpose.
“Our presidency showed that when we act together, we can move the world towards fairness and cooperation.”
Ramaphosa insisted that the Johannesburg leaders’ summit produced concrete results despite international tension, with those present agreeing on debt relief mechanisms, climate-disaster funding and the beneficiation of critical minerals.
South Africa also initiated the first G20 report on global inequality, led by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz. It will now champion the creation of an international panel on inequality, modelled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to ensure that global policy is guided by evidence and justice.
Ramaphosa said the declaration adopted in Johannesburg reaffirmed the G20’s relevance as the world’s premier forum for economic coordination and “proved that multilateralism is alive and strong”.
Africa’s priorities, he added, had been placed at the centre of the global agenda and reflected in agreements on affordable finance and investment in a just energy transition.