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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, after rejecting a American suggestion for him to transfer authority to a lower-ranking embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by American Absence

The host nation portrayed the 48-hour conference as a victory for global cooperation, but it was overshadowed 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 have gathered in the face of significant challenges and demonstrated our ability to come together, even in periods of hardship, to pursue a better world,” Ramaphosa stated in his closing speech.

Concluding his remarks, 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.” This was Ramaphosa’s only mention of the country missing from the assembly of major global powers.

Summit Communique Highlights Climate Change and Equal Rights

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday emphasizing the need to tackle climate change and achieve “gender equality.” Donald Trump’s administration had withdrawn from the Paris environmental accord on the first day of his new mandate and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.

US Administration Reaction

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

“This, combined with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 summit statement, despite consistent and robust US objections, underscores the fact that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she remarked.

Handover Protocol Disagreement

South Africa had offered to arrange for an similarly ranked official to officially transfer the G20 presidency to the US at the diplomatic headquarters. Authorities explained it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to give it to the US interim envoy.

South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “From us, the ball has moved. 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 under Trump corporate ownership.

The nation of Argentina, led by President Javier Milei did not attend, also refused to endorse the declaration. Its foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, commented: “Specifically it addresses the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that does not fully reflect its entire intricacy.”

The G20 communique stated: “We are committed for a fair, inclusive, and enduring resolution in Sudan and the DRC, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 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 countries plus the EU. The AU was added in 2023.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also not present at the meeting. Putin is wanted by the ICC, to which South Africa is a signatory. The Chinese president has assigned participation in numerous global events this year to China’s prime minister, Li Qiang.