【By Observer Net, Zhang Jingjuan】The threats of US President Trump have "hit a wall" in South Africa.

According to Reuters on November 30, in response to Trump's statement about banning South Africa from attending the 2026 G20 summit, South African President Ramaphosa (Cyril Ramaphosa) refuted it and reiterated South Africa's status as a founding member of the G20.

"South Africa is now, and will continue to be, a formal, active, and constructive member of the G20," said Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa also described Trump's long-standing narrative about white farmers being killed and land being seized in South Africa as "blatant false information."

This controversy began with the first G20 summit held in Africa this year. As the rotating chair, South Africa was supposed to hand over the chairmanship at the closing ceremony as per convention, but the United States, as a founding member of the G20 and the world's largest economy, chose to be absent.

It is worth noting that at the G20 summit, leaders from around the world jointly addressed the most urgent global issues and issued a joint declaration, which included topics such as climate change—issues that the Trump administration has opposed.

After the summit, Trump targeted South Africa on social media, claiming that it had refused to transfer the chairmanship to the U.S. ambassador's office during the summit. He not only threatened to ban its participation in next year's summit, but also stated "immediately stop all aid and subsidies to the country," and even defamed that "South Africa is not worthy of membership in any organization."

In response to the U.S. accusations, South Africa quickly retaliated. A statement from the office of Ramaphosa showed that the handover ceremony was eventually held at the building of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa. South Africa emphasized that as a G20 member, the U.S. should have sent a head of state or ministerial-level official to attend the summit. The U.S. did not send an appropriate level representative according to diplomatic conventions. Therefore, after the summit, the handover ceremony was conducted "quietly" in the office building of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation in the administrative capital Pretoria, and the identities of the officials involved in the handover were not disclosed to the public.

At that time, Ramaphosa responded, "South Africa is a sovereign, constitutional democracy and does not accept insults from other countries regarding its eligibility to participate in global platforms. South Africa will continue to participate as a formal, active, and constructive member of the G20."

Ramaphosa IC photo

Although there are diplomatic differences between the two countries, the South African president stated on the 30th that American businesses and civil society groups still actively participated in various G20-related activities held in Johannesburg, South Africa in November.

"We value these constructive relationships and will continue to cooperate within the G20 framework," he said.

The report pointed out that this statement sends a signal that South Africa intends to maintain dialogue.

Previously, The New York Times reported that it is unclear whether Trump has the authority to ban South Africa from participating, but South Africa is likely to receive strong support from other member states. Almost all members praised South Africa's work in hosting this year's summit.

Ramaphosa's speechwriter Vincent Magwena told Reuters, "Many" G20 member states privately expressed support for South Africa, but did not specify the countries. He said that South Africa would not individually lobby countries for support. "We understand and appreciate that, on a bilateral level, some countries have a relatively sensitive relationship with the United States."

German Chancellor Merkel recently volunteered to mediate, publicly stating that she would try to persuade Trump to withdraw his decision and invite South Africa to attend the summit.

He believes that G7 and G20 are mechanisms that cannot be arbitrarily reduced. G20 is "one of the most important multilateral mechanisms we still have in the world." A rift with South Africa ultimately does not serve Washington's interests, because it would indicate that "the U.S. government is unnecessarily giving up influence, including influence in an increasingly important region of the world."

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Original: toutiao.com/article/7578785368683381275/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.