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The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, following his refusal of a American suggestion for him to transfer authority to a lower-ranking embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by American Absence

South Africa presented the 48-hour conference as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was diminished by a boycott by the US, which has consistently alleged South Africa of discriminating against white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been broadly refuted.

“We have gathered in the face of major obstacles and shown our capacity to come together, even in periods of hardship, to pursue a better world,” Ramaphosa stated in his closing speech.

Concluding his remarks, he noted: “This gavel of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now moves on to the next president of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other again next year.” It represented Ramaphosa’s sole reference of the nation absent from the gathering of the world’s largest economies.

G20 Declaration Focuses On Global Warming and Equal Rights

The G20 released a statement on Saturday stressing the importance to tackle climate change and achieve “gender equality.” The Trump government had pulled out of the Paris environmental accord on the initial day of his second term and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.

US Administration Reaction

US administration representative Anna Kelly accused Ramaphosa of “refusing to facilitate a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.”

“This, combined with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 summit statement, despite consistent 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 similarly ranked official to officially transfer the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Officials had stated it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to give it to the US acting ambassador.

South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “From us, the ball has moved. 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 scheduled to take place at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golf resort, which is owned by the Trump Organization.

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also declined to support the declaration. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, commented: “Specifically it addresses the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that does not fully reflect its entire intricacy.”

The G20 communique stated: “We are committed for a fair, inclusive, and enduring resolution 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 financial crisis in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The AU was incorporated last year.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Chinese President 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 member state. Xi has delegated participation in numerous global events this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.