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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, after rejecting a American suggestion for him to hand over duties to a relatively junior embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Summit Marred by US Boycott

South Africa presented the 48-hour conference as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was diminished by a withdrawal of the United States, which has consistently alleged South Africa of discriminating against 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.

Concluding his remarks, he noted: “This gavel of this G20 summit officially concludes this summit and now proceeds to the subsequent leader 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.

Summit Communique Highlights Global Warming and Gender Equality

The G20 released a statement on Saturday stressing the importance to tackle climate change and achieve “gender equality.” The Trump government had pulled out of the Paris environmental accord on the initial day of his second term and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.

White House Response

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

“This, coupled with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 summit statement, notwithstanding repeated and strong American opposition, 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 formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the diplomatic headquarters. Authorities explained it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US interim envoy.

South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “From us, the ball has moved. We are done. The decision is theirs. Should they choose to engage, we are ready.”

Future Summit and Other Notable Non-Attendances

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 communique. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, said: “Specifically it addresses the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that fails to capture its full complexity.”

The G20 document read: “We are committed for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as ending other conflicts and global hostilities.”

G20 Background

The G20 was established following 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 Claudia Sheinbaum were also not present at the meeting. Putin is wanted by the international criminal court, to which South Africa is a signatory. The Chinese president has assigned attending many international gatherings this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.