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The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the G20 summit in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, following his refusal of a American suggestion for him to hand over duties to a relatively junior embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by American Absence

South Africa presented the two-day event as a victory for global cooperation, but it was diminished by a withdrawal of the United States, which has consistently alleged South Africa of showing bias toward white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been broadly refuted.

“We’ve met in the face of major obstacles and shown our capacity to unite, even in times of great difficulty, to strive for global improvement,” 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 see each other again next year.” It represented Ramaphosa’s only mention 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.” The Trump government had withdrawn from the Paris environmental accord on the first day of his new mandate and has reversed many policies designed to tackle discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.

White House Response

US administration representative Anna Kelly accused Ramaphosa of “refusing to facilitate a smooth transition of the G20 presidency.”

“This, coupled with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 leaders’ declaration, despite consistent and robust US objections, 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 similarly ranked official to formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Officials had stated it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US acting ambassador.

South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, told reporters: “We have done our part. Our role is complete. The decision is theirs. If they want to come, we are available.”

Upcoming Gathering and Additional Absences

The 2026 conference is set to occur at the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, 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: “In particular, it deals with the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that fails to capture its full complexity.”

The G20 document read: “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 established following the Asian financial crisis in 1999, with 19 nations and the European Union. The AU was added in 2023.

The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also absent from the summit. Putin is wanted by the international criminal court, to which South Africa is a member state. The Chinese president has assigned participation in numerous global events this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.