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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 American suggestion for him to hand over duties to a lower-ranking embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Summit Marred by American Absence

The host nation portrayed the two-day event as a victory for global cooperation, but it was diminished by a boycott by the US, 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 demonstrated our ability to come together, even in times of great difficulty, to strive for global improvement,” the president declared in his closing speech.

Wrapping up his speech, he noted: “This gavel of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now proceeds to the subsequent leader 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 Focuses On Global Warming and Gender Equality

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday emphasizing the need to tackle climate change and achieve “equal opportunities for all genders.” The Trump government had withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement on the first day of his new mandate and has reversed many policies designed to tackle sexism, racism and homophobia.

US Administration Reaction

US administration representative Anna Kelly claimed the president of “refusing to facilitate a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.”

“This, coupled with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 summit statement, notwithstanding repeated and robust US objections, highlights the reality that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she remarked.

Transition Procedure 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. Officials had stated it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US acting ambassador.

South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, told reporters: “From us, the ball has moved. We are done. The decision is theirs. If they want to come, we are available.”

Future Summit and Additional Absences

The 2026 conference is set to occur at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golf resort, 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, said: “In particular, it deals with the protracted Middle Eastern dispute in a manner that does not fully reflect its entire intricacy.”

The G20 communique stated: “We will work for a fair, inclusive, and enduring resolution in Sudan and the DRC, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as resolving additional disputes and global hostilities.”

G20 Background

The G20 was founded in the wake of the Asian financial crisis in 1999, with 19 nations and the European Union. The African Union was incorporated last year.

The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also absent from the summit. Putin is wanted by the international criminal court, to which South Africa is a member state. Xi has delegated attending many international gatherings this year to China’s prime minister, Li Qiang.