A representative from the U.S. Embassy in South Africa will attend the formal handover ceremony at the end of this weekend’s Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, but the United States will still not take part in any talks, a White House official said Thursday.
The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, was responding to comments by South Africa’s president that the U.S. had indicated it had a “change of mind” over its boycott at the “11th hour” and would take part in the summit.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced this month that no U.S. government official would attend the two-day meeting of world leaders from rich and developing countries in South Africa’s biggest city.
Trump cited South Africa’s alleged race-based persecution of its white Afrikaner minority as the reason for the U.S. boycott. The U.S. is due to take over the rotating presidency of the G20 from South Africa, and a formal handover ceremony is traditional at the end of each summit.
Ramaphosa has previously expressed disappointment that the U.S. boycott would mean he hands over to an “empty chair” at the end of the summit.
On Thursday, South Africa’s leader said he welcomed U.S. participation at Africa’s first G20 summit and viewed the late communication as a “pleasing” change of approach from the world biggest economy.
“The United States is a member of the G20, they are an original member of the G20, so they have the right to be here,” Ramaphosa said. “And all we are seeking to do is looking at the practicalities … for them to participate.”
Ramaphosa had also addressed the U.S. boycott — which threatens to undermine the summit — earlier Thursday, when he said that the G20 meeting would issue a joint declaration despite pressure from Washington not to issue one.
A South African G20 official said earlier this week that the U.S. had sent diplomatic communication to South Africa advising that that “there should be no declaration adopted” at the summit because the U.S. was not there and therefore there would be no consensus.
Instead, the U.S. wants a toned-down statement from South Africa only to cap the summit, which is a culmination of more than 120 meetings that Africa’s most advanced economy has hosted since it took over the G20’s rotating presidency for this year.
Speaking to reporters after an earlier speech, Ramaphosa said: “We will have a declaration. The talks are going extremely well. I’m confident we are moving towards a declaration, and they are now just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.”
“Without the United States, the whole process of the G20 is moving forward. We will not be bullied. We will not agree to be bullied.”
Trump has repeatedly targeted South Africa for criticism since he returned to office. He held a tense meeting with Ramaphosa at the White House in May, when he confronted South Africa’s leader with baseless claims of widespread violence against Afrikaners in South Africa.
The U.S. president has repeated his claims in the leadup to the G20 that Ramaphosa’s Black-led government is pursuing racist anti-white policies against the Afrikaner white minority.
The G20 is a bloc made up of 19 nations, including the richest but also the top developing economies. The European Union and the African Union are also members.
South Africa, which is the first African nation to hold the rotating presidency, is hoping to use its summit to make progress on issues especially affecting poor countries. That includes mitigating the impact of climate change and weather-related disasters, easing debt burdens for developing countries and confronting global wealth inequality.
The U.S. has previously derided South Africa’s priorities for the group, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipping a G20 foreign ministers meeting in February and dismissing South Africa’s priorities as being about diversity, equity and inclusion and climate change.
Rubio said he would not waste U.S. taxpayer money on that agenda.
Other leaders are also skipping the G20 summit, including China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Argentina’s Javier Milei, but they have sent delegations to represent them.
“The only country that is not in the room is the United States and, of course, is their choice not to be in the room,” Xolisa Mabhongo, a South African ambassador to the G20, told national broadcaster SABC this week.
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Price reported from Washington.
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