South Africa Kicks Off G20 Discussions, But the US Boycotts the Meeting

HIGHLIGHTS:

• South Africa kicks off its G20 presidency, emphasizing the need for multilateralism and international law to tackle global crises.
• Amid rising tensions, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent skip G20 events, citing anti-Americanism and conflicting priorities.
• Ramaphosa warns that intolerance, conflicts, and climate change threaten global coexistence, stressing the need for a unified response through the UN Charter and international law.

Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, told G20 foreign ministers that multilateralism and international law must be upheld in order to solve international crises. His remarks 

come at a time that concerns about the Trump administration's "America First" policies are increasing, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio absented himself from the meeting, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly declared that he was skipping an upcoming G20 finance ministers' gathering.

Rubio stated that anti-Americanism was "intolerable," while Bessent had simply stated that he was already committed elsewhere in Washington.

South Africa being the first African nation to chair the G20 is attempting to have a say concerning the interests of developing nations in discussions with the wealthiest nations.

This is a G20 made up of nineteen countries, the AU, and the EU, which collectively represent over 80% of the world economy and two-thirds of the world population.

G20 foreign ministers from China, Russia, France, and the UK are in attendance at the Johannesburg meeting, while the United States is represented by its deputy chief of mission at the embassy in South Africa.

Ramaphosa, in his opening comments, stated that "already fragile global coexistence" is in danger due to rising intolerance, unrest, and climate change.

"Yet there is a lack of consensus among major powers, including in the G20, on how to respond to these issues of global significance," the South African president said.

"It is critical that the principles of the UN Charter, multilateralism and international law should remain at the centre of all our endeavour," he added.

South Africa will host the G20 presidency until November 2025, when it will pass the reigns onto the United States. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since Donald Trump's inauguration in January, casting shadows on what South Africa would accomplish in its course of the presidential term.

Trump stopped USA aid to South Africa, stating the country was adopting "unjust and immoral practices" against the white minority Afrikaner community, and in December 2023, he filed a genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Following Trump's decision, Rubio announced he would skip the foreign ministers' meeting, criticizing South Africa for "doing very bad things" and using the G20 to push "solidarity, equality, and sustainability"—or, as he put it, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and climate change.

In a post on X, he added: "My role is to protect America's national interests, not to squander taxpayer money or tolerate anti-Americanism."