South Africa rejects the US decision,calling it “punitive” and that it harms already strained ties.
South Africa has sharply rejected President Donald Trump’s announcement that it will not be invited to G20 events in the United States next year, calling the move “punitive” and based on misinformation.
Trump said South Africa would be excluded from the 2026 summit in Miami, claiming the country refused to hand over the G20 presidency at the end of the Johannesburg summit. He also repeated discredited claims that the South African government is targeting white citizens and allowing violence against white farmers.
In a statement, South Africa said the comments were “regrettable” and stressed that its G20 membership is recognised by all member states. It said it would not accept “insults” from another country and noted that it is a sovereign democracy that participates in global platforms in its own right.
The row deepened after the United States boycotted last weekend’s summit, the first hosted on African soil. US officials demanded that the G20 presidency be symbolically handed to their acting ambassador at the closing ceremony. South Africa rejected the request, saying it would break protocol because the official was a junior diplomat.
Trump has long accused South Africa of discrimination against the white minority, repeating claims that the government encourages violence and land seizures. He says the US will halt all aid and “payments” to South Africa and has offered refugee status to white South Africans while blocking other refugee arrivals.
South Africa strongly disputes these claims and says crime affects all groups in the country. Official police records show 12 murders on farms, including black-owned plots in the last quarter of 2024, out of nearly 7,000 murders nationwide. Land ownership remains unequal, but land returns through courts have been slow and limited.
South Africa said it has tried to repair relations with Washington but Trump continues to take actions “based on misinformation”. The government said it remains committed to multilateral cooperation and highlighted the Johannesburg summit’s focus on issues such as climate change and gender equality, themes the US government has not supported.
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