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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by striking a gavel, following his refusal of a US proposal for him to transfer authority to a relatively junior embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by US Boycott

South Africa presented the 48-hour conference 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 broadly refuted.

“We’ve met in the face of major obstacles and demonstrated our ability to unite, even in times of great difficulty, to pursue a better world,” Ramaphosa stated in his final address.

Wrapping up his speech, he announced: “This gavel of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now proceeds to the next president of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other again next year.” This was Ramaphosa’s only mention of the country missing from the assembly of major global powers.

G20 Declaration Highlights Climate Change and Equal Rights

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday stressing the importance to address environmental crises and achieve “gender equality.” The Trump government had pulled out of the Paris climate agreement on the first day of his new mandate and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.

US Administration Reaction

US administration representative Anna Kelly claimed the president of “refusing to facilitate a seamless handover 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 exploited their leadership role to weaken the group’s core values,” she remarked.

Transition Procedure Disagreement

South Africa had proposed to organize for an equivalent “junior” diplomat to formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Authorities explained it would breach protocol for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US acting ambassador.

South Africa’s foreign minister, 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 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 refused to endorse the declaration. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, said: “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 are committed for a fair, inclusive, and enduring resolution in Sudan and the DRC, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine, as well as ending other conflicts and global hostilities.”

Group of Twenty History

The G20 was established following the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The AU was added in 2023.

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 ICC, to which South Africa is a signatory. The Chinese president has assigned attending many international gatherings this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.