In a move aimed at avoiding an escalation of SA-US diplomatic tension, President Cyril Ramaphosa tempered the absence of key US officials at high-level Group of 20 (G20) meetings, insisting it was not a sign of a boycott.
Both US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and secretary of state Marco Rubio have snubbed their respective ministerial meetings and have instead opted to send senior diplomats as replacements.
This is amid an escalating diplomatic spat between Washington and Pretoria, which is in line with the US’s antagonistic stance towards SA.
The actions by Bessent and Rubio raise questions on whether US President Donald Trump will attend the G20 leaders’ summit in November. SA, the US and Brazil form the G20 troika (the current, previous and next G20 presidents), which is a platform for collaboration among participating countries. The US is set to take over the presidency of the G20 in 2026.
“They are part of the G20 and the discussions that will take place here are discussions that they are going to be part and parcel of. So this is not a boycott. This can be ascribed to a whole number of reasons, which he has stated, which we note, and we have resolved that we will, in the diplomatic process, be able to have those matters discussed, to have those matters dealt with,” Ramaphosa said at a media briefing on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meetings on Thursday.
The snub by Bessent and Rubio amid a diplomatic spat over SA’s land policies led to the Trump administration misleadingly deciding to halt funding to SA and provide refugee status to white Afrikaners.
“With the US, we may not agree on the number of issues, but we want [to engage] in the spirit of diplomacy, in the spirit of promoting good relations,” Ramaphosa said.
“We continue addressing the issues that may appear to be difficult for challenges between us, as we do with all other countries in the world, we always find a way of finding solutions. I’m a solutions-orientated person and I think President Trump is as well, and we will find solutions in this regard.”
The foreign ministers’ meetings began on Thursday against the backdrop of an uncertain global environment with the Trump administration imposing reciprocal tariffs on its trading partners. Trump’s executive order to suspend funding to SA citing the country’s land policies has worsened the risks to SA’s growth prospects.
In draft budget documents released on Wednesday, the Treasury however did not make additional allocations in anticipation of the fallout from the Trump administration’s actions.
SA has laid out an ambitious goal to use the G20 as another international forum to push for global reforms, advocating for a greater say for developing countries in global governance and co-operation to address the plight of heavily indebted countries and to secure agreements on improving the improved quality and quantity of funding for climate-change initiatives.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and his Chinese and Indian counterparts both attended the foreign ministers’ meetings. The EU has also expressed support for SA’s G20 presidency with a delegation holding high-level engagements with SA’s international relations & co-operation minister, Ronald Lamola, on Wednesday.
“It might be at the lower level, but they will be represented. It’s not a complete boycott of SA’s G20,” Lamola said during a media briefing.
The SA government has said it would continue to use available diplomatic channels to engage the US.
Both foreign and finance ministers’ meetings will continue, with the US sending representatives in the place of Rubio and Bissent.
Business Day previously reported that the deputy chief of mission at the US embassy, Dana Brown, would replace Rubio while Bessent’s replacement had yet to be decided.
To support SA’s G20 presidency, the Treasury had planned to make one-off allocations to various government departments and institutions to support SA’s G20 presidency.
The G20 finance ministers are set to discuss issues related to global governance including enhancing debt sustainability, strengthening the global financial safety net and strengthening financial resilience through robust capital flows.
The National Treasury and the SA Reserve Bank lead the finance track of SA’s G20 presidency, which comprises four technical working groups — the infrastructure working group, the sustainable finance working group, the global partnership for financial inclusion group and the framework working group.
“The G20 has made notable progress in addressing global tax evasion and tax avoidance, including the implementation of the global 15% effective minimum tax by more than 50 countries. In 2025, the international taxation agenda will focus on assessing progress and moving forward with the two pillar tax reform, supporting effective revenue collection, addressing inequalities in taxing high net-worth individuals and improving tax certainty,” the Treasury said in draft budget documents released on Wednesday.
Update: February 20 2025
This story has been updated with new information.
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