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The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by striking a gavel, after rejecting a US proposal for him to transfer authority to a relatively junior embassy official for the upcoming gathering in Florida.

Summit Marred by US Boycott

The host nation portrayed the 48-hour conference as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was overshadowed by a withdrawal of the United States, which has consistently alleged South Africa of showing bias toward white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been widely discredited.

“We’ve met in the face of significant challenges and demonstrated our ability to come together, even in periods of hardship, to strive for global improvement,” Ramaphosa stated in his closing speech.

Wrapping up his speech, he announced: “This gavel of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now proceeds to the next president of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other again next year.” This was Ramaphosa’s sole reference of the nation absent from the assembly of major global powers.

G20 Declaration Highlights Global Warming and Equal Rights

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday emphasizing the need to tackle climate change and achieve “equal opportunities for all genders.” Donald Trump’s administration had pulled out of the Paris environmental accord on the initial day of his second term and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle sexism, racism and homophobia.

White House Response

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly accused Ramaphosa of “declining to enable a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.”

“This, coupled with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 summit statement, despite consistent and robust US objections, highlights the reality that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to weaken the group’s core values,” she remarked.

Transition Procedure Controversy

South Africa had proposed to organize for an equivalent “junior” diplomat to formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Officials had stated it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US acting ambassador.

South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “We have done our part. We are done. It’s up to them. If they want to come, we are available.”

Future Summit and Other Notable Non-Attendances

The 2026 summit is set to occur at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golfing facility, which is owned by the Trump Organization.

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also declined to support the declaration. Its foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, commented: “Specifically it addresses the protracted Middle Eastern dispute in a manner that fails to capture its full complexity.”

The G20 document read: “We will work for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as ending other conflicts and wars around the globe.”

G20 Background

The G20 was established following the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The African Union was incorporated last year.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also not present at the meeting. Putin is wanted by the international criminal court, to which South Africa is a signatory. The Chinese president has assigned attending many international gatherings this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.