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The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, after rejecting a US proposal for him to hand over duties to a lower-ranking embassy official for the upcoming gathering in Florida.

Summit Marred by US Boycott

The host nation portrayed the 48-hour conference as a victory for global cooperation, but it was diminished by a boycott by the US, which has repeatedly accused South Africa of showing bias toward white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been widely discredited.

“We have gathered in the face of major obstacles and shown our capacity to unite, even in periods of hardship, to pursue a better world,” Ramaphosa stated in his final address.

Wrapping up his speech, he announced: “This gavel of this G20 summit officially concludes 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 gathering of the world’s largest economies.

Summit Communique Highlights Global Warming and Equal Rights

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday stressing the importance to tackle climate change and achieve “gender equality.” Donald Trump’s administration had withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement on the first day of his second term and has reversed many policies designed to tackle sexism, racism and homophobia.

US Administration Reaction

US administration representative Anna Kelly accused Ramaphosa of “declining to enable a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.”

“This, combined with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 summit statement, notwithstanding repeated and robust US objections, underscores the fact that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to weaken the group’s core values,” she stated.

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 diplomatic headquarters. 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: “We have done our part. We are done. The decision is theirs. If they want to come, we are available.”

Upcoming Gathering and Other Notable Non-Attendances

The 2026 conference is set to occur at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golfing facility, 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: “Specifically it addresses the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that fails to capture its full complexity.”

The G20 document read: “We are committed for a fair, inclusive, and enduring resolution in Sudan and the DRC, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as resolving additional disputes and wars around the globe.”

G20 Background

The G20 was established following the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 nations and the European Union. The African Union was added in 2023.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico's leader Claudia Sheinbaum were also absent from the summit. Putin is wanted by the ICC, to which South Africa is a member state. Xi has delegated attending many international gatherings this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.