South Africa has been excluded from the first G20 Sherpa meeting under the United States’ presidency this month, confirming a sharp escalation in tensions that have built for more than a year between Pretoria and Washington over human rights, foreign policy and the future of the forum.
The G20 Sherpa meeting in Washington on 15–16 December is meant to start shaping the bloc’s work for the coming year, but South Africa has not been invited, despite being a full member state.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) told Parliament it views the non-invitation as a direct violation of how the G20 is supposed to function.
Director-general Zane Dangor said South Africa only became aware of the gathering when sherpas from other countries alerted Pretoria that invitations had gone out and that they had protested South Africa’s absence.
He said the department was informed that US officials at the meeting “were carrying out the instruction of their president” by leaving South Africa off the list.
Dangor stressed that Pretoria regards the move as outside the rules of the club.
“This is a breach of G20 protocol. Guest countries get invited. South Africa is a member of the G20, and our participation shouldn’t be dependent on whether the presidency seeks to invite a member or not,” he told MPs.
DIRCO has not yet detailed what formal steps it will take in response, but says other sherpas confirmed the issue was discussed in the room.
G20 Sherpa meeting snub follows Trump’s threats
The decision not to invite South Africa to the G20 Sherpa meeting lines up with US President Donald Trump’s recent public pledge to bar the country from G20 engagements during his term.
Invitations for the Washington gathering were sent to all G20 members “except SA”, Daily Maverick reports, with the non-invitation described as confirmation of Trump’s vow that South Africa “will NOT be receiving an invitation” to the 2026 G20 Leaders’ Summit in Miami.
Trump has framed his stance as punishment for what he calls “horrific human rights abuses” against Afrikaners and alleged land seizures targeting white farmers, allegations the South African government has repeatedly rejected as false.
His position hardened after Pretoria filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in December 2024 over the war in Gaza.
In addition to the G20 threats, the Trump administration has frozen or cut back funding from programmes such as PEPFAR and USAID and imposed a 30% “reciprocal” tariff on some South African exports, deepening the diplomatic chill between the two countries.
Ramaphosa insists SA remains a full G20 member
President Cyril Ramaphosa has already publicly pushed back against Trump’s claim that South Africa can be shut out of the G20.
In an address following last month’s Johannesburg summit, he reminded viewers that South Africa is “one of the founding members of the G20” and said the country “will continue to participate as a full, active and constructive member” of the grouping.
Ramaphosa linked the US administration’s position to what he called “a sustained campaign of disinformation by groups and individuals within our country, in the US and elsewhere”, warning that false claims 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”.
Despite the fallout, Ramaphosa said South Africa had “formally handed over the G20 Presidency for 2026 to the US, observing the appropriate diplomatic protocols”, making it clear that institutional processes between hosts have been completed even as political tensions rise.
What SA’s absence from the Sherpa meeting means
G20 sherpas are senior officials who do much of the technical and diplomatic groundwork ahead of leaders’ summits, negotiating draft communiqués, shaping agendas and coordinating workstreams on issues such as debt, climate and trade.
Being left out of the first Sherpa meeting of the US term means South Africa had no seat in the room as discussions began on the 2026 presidency priorities and working programme.
DIRCO spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said in comments carried by Daily Maverick that South Africa’s “commitment to the G20’s principles and collaborative framework remains steadfast” and warned that the forum’s legitimacy depends on respecting its founding protocols.
He cautioned that any “unilateral departure from this consensus” could set a destabilising precedent for all members, not just South Africa.
Diplomats from some other G20 capitals have privately argued that permanent members should attend meetings regardless of invitations, while others note that “if you don’t have an invitation, you can’t really just rock up”.
For now, there is no sign that any country plans to boycott the Washington gathering in protest, even though some officials fear the move could one day be used to sideline them too.
As the United States begins its G20 presidency with a hard line on South Africa’s participation, Pretoria faces a delicate balancing act: defending its status and policy positions in the G20 Sherpa meeting process, while protecting broader economic and strategic ties with a partner that remains one of its largest trading and investment counterparts.
