Cyril Ramaphosa Brings to a Close G20 Summit Amid US Boycott and Handover Dispute

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, after rejecting a American suggestion for him to hand over duties to a lower-ranking embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by US Boycott

South Africa presented the two-day event 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 unite, even in periods of hardship, to strive for global improvement,” Ramaphosa stated in his final address.

Wrapping up his speech, he noted: “This gavel of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now moves on to the subsequent leader 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 country missing from the gathering of the world’s largest economies.

Summit Communique Focuses On Global Warming and Gender Equality

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday emphasizing the need to address environmental crises and achieve “equal opportunities for all genders.” The Trump government had pulled out of the Paris environmental accord on the first day of his new mandate and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle sexism, racism and homophobia.

White House Response

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

“This, coupled with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 leaders’ declaration, despite consistent and robust US objections, underscores the fact that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to weaken the group’s core values,” she stated.

Handover Protocol 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 breach protocol for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US interim envoy.

South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, told reporters: “We have done our part. We are done. The decision is theirs. If they want to come, we are available.”

Upcoming Gathering and Additional Absences

The 2026 conference is scheduled to take place at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golfing facility, which is under Trump corporate ownership.

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also refused to endorse the communique. Its foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, commented: “In particular, it deals with the protracted Middle Eastern dispute in a manner that fails to capture its full complexity.”

The G20 communique stated: “We will work for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as resolving additional disputes and global hostilities.”

G20 Background

The G20 was established following the Asian financial crisis in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The African Union was added in 2023.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico's leader Claudia Sheinbaum were also absent from the summit. The Russian president faces an arrest warrant by the ICC, to which South Africa is a signatory. The Chinese president has assigned attending many international gatherings this year to China’s prime minister, Li Qiang.