South Africa warns Trump's G-20 ban sets dangerous precedent as diplomatic rift widens
Iran Press TV
Saturday, 29 November 2025 9:17 AM
South Africa's central bank governor has cautioned that US President Donald Trump's decision to exclude the country from next year's Group of 20 meeting puts the international gathering at risk.
Lesetja Kganyago said during a media lunch in Johannesburg on Friday that South Africa has been part of the G-20 since its founding in 1999 and "I cannot think of one country that got told that they cannot come to G-20," not even Russia, which faces international sanctions.
He noted the remarks after Trump announced this week that he would not invite South Africa — the current G-20 president — to next year's summit in Miami, which the US will host after taking over the presidency on December 1.
Kganyago warned that excluding South Africa in 2026 would create a harmful precedent that could lead to other nations being left out in the future. "The G-20 does not work like that. It's a consensus forum," the governor added.
Trump's announcement is seen as part of his ongoing dispute with South Africa, a country he has filed suit against Israel — a major US ally — at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the occupying regime's genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.
In response, Trump has repeatedly — and without evidence — accused of allowing "genocide" against white citizens. The US also skipped last weekend's G-20 summit in Johannesburg and criticized South Africa's management of the gathering.
On May 21, 2025, Trump hosted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, where he confronted Ramaphosa with video clips and newspaper clippings alleging a "white genocide" in South Africa.
Trump claimed that white farmers were having their land seized and being killed, asserting the South African government was complicit.
Ramaphosa strongly rejected these allegations, stating that "that is not government policy" and emphasizing the violence in South Africa is criminal and affects all citizens, not a targeted campaign against whites.
Analyses from multiple outlets described Trump's accusations as "baseless" and noted there was no credible evidence of a racially--targeted campaign against white farmers in South Africa.
The meeting underscored a diplomatic rift: Trump had earlier in February suspended US aid to South Africa and extended US refugee protections to white South African farmers, citing alleged persecution.
The decision to bar South Africa has prompted unease among other G-20 members. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday that the grouping remains "one of the most important multilateral forums we still have."
How Washington would actually block South Africa or any other country from taking part is uncertain, though it would likely involve the State Department withholding visas for attending officials.
Professor Carlos Lopes, from the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town and associate fellow in the Africa program at Chatham House, said Trump's decision was no "surprise."
"A unilateral 'disinvitation' is more a political threat than an institutional reality," he noted.
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