Ramaphosa urges G20 unity amid Trump’s SA exclusion

President says SA will continue to participate as a full, active and constructive member of the group

November 27, 2025 at 00:05 pm

Thando Maeko

Political Correspondent

World Leaders including European Council president Antonio Costa, China's Prime Minister Li Qiang, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President Cyril Ramaphosa, Angola's President Joao Lourenco, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and France's President Emmanuel Macron pose for a photograph at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, November 22 2025. ( Leon Neal/Reuters)

President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged G20 members to close ranks around multilateralism and equal participation after US President Donald Trump announced SA would not receive an invitation to participate in the 2026 G20 summit, which the US is hosting.

In a social media post on Monday, Trump repeated the discredited notion of a “white genocide” in South Africa as a reason behind his unilateral decision to exclude the country from the G20. It follows the conclusion of the G20 leaders summit in Johannesburg last weekend, when leaders of the world’s largest economies affirmed multilateralism and vowed to support the US for 2026.

The US chose to boycott the weekend’s gathering. South Africa handed over the presidency of the G20 on Monday in a low-key ceremony at the head offices of the department of international relations and co-operation (Dirco).