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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by striking a gavel, following his refusal of a US proposal for him to hand over duties to a relatively junior embassy official for the upcoming gathering 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’ve met in the face of significant challenges and shown our capacity to unite, even in times of great difficulty, to strive for global improvement,” the president declared in his final address.

Wrapping up his speech, he announced: “This gavel 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 sole reference of the country missing from the gathering of the world’s largest economies.

G20 Declaration Highlights Climate Change and Gender Equality

The G20 released a statement on Saturday emphasizing the need 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 new mandate and has overturned numerous measures aimed at combating discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.

White House Response

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

“This, combined with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 leaders’ declaration, despite consistent and robust US objections, highlights the reality that they have exploited their leadership role to weaken the group’s core values,” she stated.

Transition Procedure Disagreement

South Africa had offered to arrange for an equivalent “junior” diplomat to formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. 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: “We have done our part. Our role is complete. It’s up to them. If they want to come, we are available.”

Future Summit and Additional Absences

The 2026 conference is scheduled to take place at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golfing facility, which is under Trump corporate ownership.

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also declined to support the declaration. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, commented: “Specifically it addresses the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that does not fully reflect its full complexity.”

The G20 communique stated: “We will work 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 founded in the wake of the Asian financial crisis in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The African Union was added in 2023.

The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mexico's leader 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. The Chinese president has assigned participation in numerous global events this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.