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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, following his refusal of a American suggestion for him to transfer authority to a relatively junior embassy official for the upcoming gathering in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by US Boycott

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

“We’ve met in the face of major obstacles and demonstrated our ability to unite, even in periods of hardship, to strive for global improvement,” the president declared in his closing speech.

Concluding his remarks, he announced: “This ceremonial hammer of this G20 summit formally closes 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 only mention of the nation absent from the assembly of major global powers.

G20 Declaration Highlights Global Warming and Equal Rights

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday stressing the importance to address environmental crises and achieve “gender equality.” Donald Trump’s administration had pulled out of the Paris environmental accord on the initial day of his new mandate and has overturned numerous measures aimed at combating discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.

US Administration Reaction

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly accused Ramaphosa of “declining to enable a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.”

“This, coupled with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 summit statement, notwithstanding repeated and robust US objections, underscores the fact that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she remarked.

Transition Procedure Controversy

South Africa had proposed to organize for an similarly ranked official 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: “We have done our part. We are done. It’s up to them. If they want to come, we are available.”

Future Summit and Additional Absences

The 2026 summit is set to occur at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golf resort, which is owned by the Trump Organization.

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also refused to endorse the communique. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, said: “In particular, it deals with the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that fails to capture its entire intricacy.”

The G20 document read: “We are committed for a fair, inclusive, and enduring resolution in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine, as well as ending other conflicts and wars around the globe.”

Group of Twenty History

The G20 was established following the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The African Union was incorporated last year.

The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also not present at the meeting. The Russian president faces an arrest warrant by the international criminal court, to which South Africa is a signatory. Xi has delegated attending many international gatherings this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.