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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the G20 summit in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, following his refusal of a US proposal for him to hand over duties 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 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 broadly refuted.

“We have gathered in the face of significant challenges and demonstrated our ability to come together, even in times of great difficulty, to pursue a better world,” the president declared in his closing speech.

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 reconvene next year.” It represented Ramaphosa’s sole reference of the nation absent from the assembly of major global powers.

Summit Communique Highlights Global Warming and Equal Rights

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday stressing the importance to address environmental crises and achieve “gender equality.” Donald Trump’s administration had pulled out of the Paris environmental accord on the initial day of his new mandate and has reversed many policies designed to tackle sexism, racism and homophobia.

US Administration Reaction

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 effort to release a G20 leaders’ declaration, despite consistent and strong American opposition, highlights the reality that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to weaken the group’s core values,” she remarked.

Handover Protocol Disagreement

South Africa had offered to arrange for an equivalent “junior” diplomat to officially transfer the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Authorities explained it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US acting ambassador.

South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “We have done our part. Our role is complete. It’s up to them. If they want to come, we are available.”

Future Summit and Additional Absences

The 2026 conference is set to occur at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golf resort, which is under Trump corporate ownership.

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also declined to support the declaration. Its foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, said: “In particular, it deals with the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that fails to capture its entire intricacy.”

The G20 communique stated: “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 global hostilities.”

G20 Background

The G20 was founded in the wake of the Asian economic turmoil 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 Claudia Sheinbaum were also absent from the summit. The Russian president faces an arrest warrant by the ICC, to which South Africa is a member state. The Chinese president has assigned attending many international gatherings this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.