President Cyril Ramaphosa has pushed back against Donald Trump’s claim that South Africa will be barred from the 2026 G20 summit in the United States, insisting that the country is a founding member of the group and will remain a “full, active and constructive” participant.
He warned that false claims about “genocide” and land seizures are hurting South Africa’s national interests, jobs and relations with one of its key partners.
Ramaphosa addressed the nation on Sunday night following the conclusion of this year’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, after Trump announced on his social media platform that South Africa would “not receive an invitation” to the 2026 summit, expected to be held in Miami, and that US payments and subsidies to South Africa would stop with immediate effect.
What Trump has said about South Africa and the G20
Trump justified the planned exclusion and earlier US boycott of the Johannesburg summit by accusing the South African government of ignoring what he called “horrific human rights abuses” against Afrikaners and other white communities.
He claimed white people were being killed and that their farms were being “randomly” taken, allegations the South African government has repeatedly rejected.
His stance hardened after Pretoria opened a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice over the Gaza conflict in December 2024.
Since returning to office, Trump has frozen funding from programmes such as PEPFAR and USAID and imposed a 30% “reciprocal” tariff on South African exports.
Ramaphosa: South Africa is a founding G20 member
In his address, Ramaphosa said it was “regrettable” that the US, which takes over the G20 presidency from South Africa in 2026, chose not to attend the Johannesburg summit, calling the reasons given “baseless and false allegations that South Africa is perpetrating genocide against Afrikaners and the confiscation of land from white people”.
He emphasised that South Africa’s place in the forum does not depend on an invitation from any single country, saying South Africa is “one of the founding members of the G20” and that it “will continue to participate as a full, active and constructive member”.
Ramaphosa also confirmed that, despite the public row, South Africa had “formally handed over the G20 Presidency for 2026 to the US, observing the appropriate diplomatic protocols”, making it clear that the institutional transition between the two hosts has already taken place.
Disinformation, domestic actors and the cost to South Africa
Ramaphosa linked the US administration’s stance to what he described as “a sustained campaign of disinformation by groups and individuals within our country, in the US and elsewhere”, saying those spreading falsehoods about genocide and land grabs are “endangering and undermining South Africa’s national interests, destroying South African jobs and weakening our country’s relations with one of our most important partners”.
He stressed that South Africa remains a constitutional democracy with a Bill of Rights that guarantees equality before the law, and rejected any suggestion that the country sanctions racial persecution.
Relations with the US beyond the Trump administration
Despite the rift with Washington, Ramaphosa described South Africa as “a firm and unwavering friend of the American people”, recalling the US solidarity movements that backed the anti-apartheid struggle and saying the US Bill of Rights helped inspire South Africa’s own democratic constitution.
He said Pretoria would continue to engage the US government “with respect and with dignity as equal sovereign countries”.
Ramaphosa’s remarks signal that, while South Africa is challenging Trump’s narrative on the G20 and human rights, it is also trying to ring-fence broader economic and diplomatic ties with the US, even as funding cuts and new tariffs begin to bite at home.
