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The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by striking a gavel, after rejecting a US proposal for him to hand over duties to a relatively junior embassy official for the upcoming gathering in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by US Boycott

South Africa presented the 48-hour conference as a victory for global cooperation, but it was diminished by a withdrawal of the United States, which has repeatedly accused South Africa of showing bias toward white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been broadly refuted.

“We’ve met in the face of major obstacles and demonstrated our ability to unite, even in times of great difficulty, to pursue a better world,” the president declared in his closing speech.

Wrapping up his speech, he announced: “This ceremonial hammer 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 reconvene next year.” It represented Ramaphosa’s sole reference of the nation absent from the assembly of major global powers.

G20 Declaration Focuses On Global Warming and Gender Equality

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday stressing the importance to address environmental crises and achieve “gender equality.” The Trump government had withdrawn from the Paris environmental accord on the first day of his second term and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle sexism, racism and homophobia.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 claimed the president of “declining to enable a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.”

“This, coupled with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 summit statement, notwithstanding repeated and robust US objections, underscores the fact that they have exploited their leadership role to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she stated.

Transition Procedure Disagreement

South Africa had offered to arrange for an equivalent “junior” diplomat to formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Authorities explained it would breach protocol for Ramaphosa to give it to the US acting ambassador.

South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, told reporters: “From us, the ball has moved. Our role is complete. The decision is theirs. If they want to come, we are available.”

Upcoming Gathering and Additional Absences

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

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also refused to endorse the communique. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, commented: “In particular, it deals with the protracted Middle Eastern dispute in a manner that does not fully reflect its full complexity.”

The G20 communique stated: “We will work for a fair, inclusive, and enduring resolution in Sudan and the DRC, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as ending other conflicts and wars around the globe.”

Group of Twenty History

The G20 was established following the Asian financial crisis in 1999, with 19 nations and the European Union. The African Union was added in 2023.

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