In an 11th-hour about-turn, the United States has informed South Africa that it now wants to participate in some form at this weekend’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday, according to a report by AFP.
The Trump administration had previously declared it would boycott the November 22-23 meeting – the first-ever G20 leaders’ summit hosted in Africa – and insisted no final communiqué could be issued without its presence.
Ongoing discussions with Washington
“We have received notice from the United States, a notice which we are still in discussions with them over, about a change of mind about participating in one shape, form or other in the summit,” Ramaphosa told reporters.
“This comes at the late hour before the summit begins. And so therefore, we do need to engage in those types of discussions to see how practical it is and what it finally really means,” he said.
Ramaphosa added: “We still need to engage with them to understand fully what their participation at the 11th hour means and how it will manifest itself.”
There was no immediate confirmation from US officials.
Earlier US boycott threat
In a diplomatic note sent to Pretoria on Saturday, the US embassy reiterated its decision not to attend, stating that South Africa’s G20 priorities “run counter to the US policy views and we cannot support consensus on any documents negotiated under your presidency.”
Ramaphosa rejects bullying
Speaking earlier Thursday at a G20 curtain-raiser event, President Ramaphosa declared South Africa would not be intimidated.
“It cannot be that a country’s geographical location or income or army determines who has a voice and who is spoken down to,” he told delegates.
There “should be no bullying of one nation by another,” he said. Despite the tensions, Ramaphosa described the apparent US reversal as “a positive sign.”
“All countries are here, and the United States, the biggest economy in the world, needs to be here,” he said.
South Africa’s G20 agenda
South Africa’s presidency theme is “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,” with priorities including disaster resilience, debt relief for low-income countries, financing a just energy transition, and harnessing critical minerals for inclusive growth.
Pretoria has vowed to push ahead and seek consensus on a leaders’ declaration regardless of initial U.S. objections.
“We will not be told by anyone who is absent that we cannot adopt a declaration or make any decisions at the summit,” Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Thursday.
Since returning to office in January, President Trump has repeatedly criticised South Africa, repeating debunked claims of white farmers being systematically “killed and slaughtered,” expelling the South African ambassador in March, and imposing 30 per cent trade tariffs – the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.
