US in talks to attend G20 summit after initial boycott, South Africa says | G20
South Africa’s president said the US had changed his mind about attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg, without confirming whether Donald Trump, who had said he would boycott the event, now wanted to come.
Trump claimed that South Africa racially discriminated against the minority white Afrikaner community that ruled the country during apartheid, which ended in 1994.
Earlier this month, the US president claimed there had been “abuse” of white farmers, including violence and land confiscation, and said South Africa’s hosting of the G20 was a “disgrace”. The South African government vehemently denied the accusations and went ahead with plans to host the first G20 summit in Africa. The two-day summit starts in Johannesburg on Saturday.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president António Costa at a press conference with Cyril Ramaphosa in question: “We have received notification from the United States that we are still in discussions with them regarding a change of heart about attending the summit in one way or another.
“This is happening late before the start of the summit and so we need to see how practical this is and what it actually means. In a way we see this as a positive sign, very positive, because as I often say, boycott politics never works.”
Earlier on Thursday, South African foreign ministry spokesman Chrispin Phiri had accused the US of trying to coerce the country after media reported that a US diplomatic note sent to South Africa said the G20 leaders’ final statement could not be released without it.
“Washington’s absence negates its role in the G20’s outcomes,” Phiri said. “But we cannot allow coercion through absenteeism to become a viable tactic; it is a recipe for institutional paralysis and the collapse of collective action.”
According to AFP, the memo sent last weekend from the US embassy in Pretoria stated that the US would only accept the “president’s statement” rather than the leaders’ statement.
The note stated: “South Africa’s G20 priorities are contrary to US policy views, and we cannot support consensus on any document negotiated under your presidency. The US opposes the issuance of any G20 summit outcome document under the premise of a consensus position without US agreement.”
South Africa’s priorities during its G20 presidency include improving debt sustainability for low-income countries and more financing for a “just energy transition” away from fossil fuels. Yes invited 22 more countries By attending the summit, he sought to present himself as a mature advocate of multilateralism, the global south and Africa.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in February that South Africa’s G20 themes of “solidarity, equality and sustainability” amounted to “anti-Americanism.”
The United States, which will take over the G20 presidency next year, has also criticized the forum’s expansion because of its initial focus on global financial and economic issues when it was founded in 1999.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said at an event in the Oval Office: “We’ve stripped the G20 down to the basics… The G20 has basically become the G100 in the last year. So it’s going to be a concentrated group in Miami, seeing the best that America has to offer, with American leadership.”
At a separate event on Thursday, Ramaphosa responded: “My answer is: No, we did not raise the G100; we raised the G million, the G20 million if you like.
“Because we believe that if we want to create a prosperous, compassionate, more equal world supported by solidarity, it is important to include the people who will be affected by the decisions taken by the leaders’ summit.”
Ramaphosa also he told reporters last week He said he did not want to hand over the G20 presidency to an “empty chair.”
“But the vacant chair will be there, he will probably symbolically hand over that vacant chair to him and talk to President Trump and say: ‘Even though you are not here, I now hand over to you the reins of being the G20 chairman or president.’ Because the G20 continues to exist as an entity whether they are here or not.”
G20, which includes 19 of the world’s largest economies and the European Union, traditionally publishes a statement at the end of the leaders’ summit every year. Last year he criticized Ukraine and its western allies for not mentioning that Russia had invaded Ukraine in the final statement.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
