🔗 Share this article Cyril Ramaphosa Concludes G20 Summit Amid American Withdrawal and Handover Dispute 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 US proposal for him to transfer authority 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 boycott by the US, which has consistently alleged South Africa of showing bias toward white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been widely discredited. “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,” the president declared 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 subsequent leader 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 Climate Change and Equal Rights The G20 released a statement on Saturday stressing the importance to tackle climate change and achieve “gender equality.” Donald Trump’s administration had withdrawn from the Paris environmental accord on the first day of his second term and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle sexism, racism and homophobia.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 US administration representative Anna Kelly claimed the president of “declining to enable a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.” “This, coupled with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 summit statement, notwithstanding repeated and strong American opposition, underscores the fact that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she remarked. Handover Protocol Disagreement South Africa had proposed to organize for an similarly ranked official to officially transfer the G20 presidency to the US at the diplomatic headquarters. Authorities explained it would violate procedure 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.” Future Summit and Additional Absences The 2026 summit is set to occur at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golfing facility, which is owned by the Trump Organization. The nation of Argentina, led by President Javier Milei skipped the summit, also declined to support the communique. Its foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, commented: “Specifically it addresses the protracted Middle Eastern dispute in a manner that does not fully reflect its entire intricacy.” The G20 document read: “We will work for a fair, inclusive, and enduring resolution in Sudan and the DRC, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as resolving additional disputes and wars around the globe.” Group of Twenty History The G20 was established following the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 nations and the European Union. The African Union was incorporated last year. The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, China’s 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 member state. Xi has delegated participation in numerous global events this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.