South African President Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the G20 summit in Johannesburg by striking a gavel, after rejecting a American suggestion for him to hand over duties to a relatively junior embassy official for the next summit in Florida.
The host nation portrayed the two-day event as a victory for global cooperation, but it was overshadowed by a withdrawal of the United States, which has consistently alleged South Africa of showing bias toward white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been broadly refuted.
“We’ve met in the face of significant challenges and demonstrated our ability to unite, even in periods of hardship, to strive for global improvement,” the president declared in his final address.
Concluding his remarks, he announced: “This ceremonial hammer of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now proceeds to the subsequent leader of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall reconvene next year.” This was Ramaphosa’s sole reference of the country missing from the assembly of major global powers.
The G20 released a statement on Saturday stressing the importance to tackle climate change and achieve “equal opportunities for all genders.” The Trump government had pulled out of the Paris environmental accord on the initial day of his new mandate and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle sexism, racism and homophobia.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly claimed the president of “refusing to facilitate a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.”
“This, combined with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 leaders’ declaration, despite consistent and robust US objections, underscores the fact that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to weaken the group’s core values,” she stated.
South Africa had offered to arrange for an equivalent “junior” diplomat to officially transfer the G20 presidency to the US at the diplomatic headquarters. Officials had stated it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US acting ambassador.
South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “We have done our part. We are done. It’s up to them. Should they choose to engage, we are ready.”
The 2026 conference is scheduled to take place at the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, which is owned by the Trump Organization.
Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also declined to support the declaration. Its foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, commented: “Specifically it addresses the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that does not fully reflect 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.”
The G20 was founded in the wake of the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 nations and the European Union. The African Union was incorporated last year.
The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also absent from the summit. Putin is wanted by the ICC, 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.
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