US set to sideline South Africa from G-20 amid rising tensions

Key topics:US may exclude South Africa from G-20 during its presidency.Ties worsen after US boycotts South Africa’s G-20 summit.Disputes over agenda, accusations, and summit participation rise..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By S'thembile Cele.South Africa expects to be notified by the US that it will be excluded from participating in Group of 20 meetings during its presidency, according to people familiar with the matter, marking a further deterioration in ties between the two countries.Officials in Pretoria familiar with the discussions, who asked not to be identified as the information is private, said they believe an announcement is imminent. Relations between the two nations have worsened in recent months, culminating in the US boycott of South Africa’s hosting of the G-20 leaders’ summit over the weekend — the first held on African soil. Days before the gathering, Washington sent a diplomatic note warning Pretoria against adopting a leaders’ declaration, but South Africa went ahead and approved the document shortly after the meeting began..Read more:.South Africa defies US boycott to secure G-20 summit declaration.The US openly opposed South Africa’s G-20 presidency and its agenda centered on solidarity, equality, and sustainability — key themes in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s drive for a more inclusive global order. It also falsely accused it of committing genocide against white Afrikaners and seizing land without compensation.South African government spokespeople were not immediately available for comment by phone. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Rumors of the country’s possible exclusion from G-20 meetings began circulating last week ahead of the leaders’ summit, though it remains unclear whether the US can make such a decision unilaterally. The most likely course of action would be for Washington to withhold visas for South African officials expected to attend the dozens of meetings scheduled over the next year.The people said the US is also expected to push for South Africa’s removal from the G-20 and may seek to install a new member from Central Europe more closely aligned with the Trump administration. Any change in membership would require consensus among G-20 nations, as was the case ahead of the 2023 summit in India, when the African Union was admitted as a full member..Read more:.Trump signals possible G-20 boycott over South Africa disputes.Pretoria also rejected a US request for Marc Dillard, the chargé d’affaires in South Africa, to attend the leaders’ summit and receive the ceremonial G-20 handover, saying Ramaphosa would not engage with a lower-ranking official. Instead, the handover took place quietly between diplomats at South Africa’s foreign ministry in Pretoria on Tuesday..© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

US set to sideline South Africa from G-20 amid rising tensions

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