The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the G20 summit in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, following his refusal of a American suggestion for him to hand over duties to a lower-ranking embassy official for the next summit in Florida.
The host nation portrayed 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 have gathered in the face of significant challenges and shown our capacity to unite, even in periods of hardship, to pursue a better world,” Ramaphosa stated in his final address.
Concluding his remarks, he announced: “This ceremonial hammer 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 reconvene next year.” This was Ramaphosa’s sole reference of the country missing from the gathering of the world’s largest economies.
The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday stressing the importance to tackle climate change and achieve “equal opportunities for all genders.” The Trump government had withdrawn from the Paris environmental accord on the initial day of his new mandate and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle sexism, racism and homophobia.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly claimed the president of “declining to enable a smooth transition of the G20 presidency.”
“This, combined with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 leaders’ declaration, notwithstanding repeated and strong American opposition, underscores the fact that they have exploited their leadership role to weaken the group’s core values,” she remarked.
South Africa had proposed to organize for an similarly ranked official to officially transfer the G20 presidency to the US at the diplomatic headquarters. Officials had stated it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass 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. It’s up to them. If they want to come, we are available.”
The 2026 conference is set to occur at the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, which is under Trump corporate ownership.
Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also declined to support the communique. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, said: “In particular, it deals with the protracted Middle Eastern dispute in a manner that does not fully reflect its full complexity.”
The G20 document read: “We are committed for a fair, inclusive, and enduring resolution in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as resolving additional disputes and wars around the globe.”
The G20 was founded in the wake of the Asian financial crisis 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 Claudia Sheinbaum were also not present at the meeting. Putin is wanted by the international criminal court, to which South Africa is a signatory. The Chinese president has assigned attending many international gatherings this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.
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