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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 relatively junior embassy official for the upcoming gathering in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by American Absence

South Africa presented the 48-hour conference as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was overshadowed by a withdrawal of the United States, which has repeatedly accused South Africa of showing bias toward white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been broadly refuted.

“We have gathered in the face of major obstacles and demonstrated our ability to come together, even in times of great difficulty, to pursue a better world,” Ramaphosa stated in his final address.

Wrapping up his speech, he announced: “This gavel of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now moves on to the subsequent leader of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other again next year.” It represented Ramaphosa’s only mention of the country missing from the gathering of the world’s largest economies.

G20 Declaration Focuses On Global Warming and Equal Rights

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday stressing the importance to address environmental crises and achieve “equal opportunities for all genders.” The Trump government had pulled out of the Paris environmental accord on the first day of his second term and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle sexism, racism and homophobia.

US Administration Reaction

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly claimed the president of “declining to enable a smooth transition of the G20 presidency.”

“This, coupled with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 leaders’ declaration, despite consistent and strong American opposition, underscores the fact that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she stated.

Transition Procedure Disagreement

South Africa had proposed to organize for an equivalent “junior” diplomat to officially transfer the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Officials had stated it would breach protocol for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US interim envoy.

South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, told reporters: “From us, the ball has moved. Our role is complete. The decision is theirs. If they want to come, we are available.”

Upcoming Gathering and Additional Absences

The 2026 summit is set to occur at the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, which is under Trump corporate ownership.

The nation of Argentina, led by President Javier Milei did not attend, also refused to endorse the communique. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, commented: “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 are committed for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Sudan and the DRC, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as ending other conflicts and global hostilities.”

G20 Background

The G20 was founded in the wake of the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 nations and the European Union. The African Union was incorporated last year.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico's leader Claudia Sheinbaum were also not present at the meeting. 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 prime minister, Li Qiang.