Despite the bluster by the US, South Africa should be commended for ably steering the first G20 summit on African soil towards the finishing line. And its development agenda may yet be achieved.
In the past fortnight, US President Donald Trump has put an inordinate effort into undermining South Africa’s G20 presidency. After long making clear that he would not be personally making an appearance, he announced that no US government official would be attending the summit either. His reasons include false claims that South Africa is carrying out a white genocide and seizing land of white South Africans.
Scott Bessent, Trump’s treasury secretary, further denounced the G20 as the G100, a derogatory reference to its growing size. Trump then insisted the South African government issue a chair’s statement and refrain from a summit declaration. The chair’s statement would suggest there was no consensus, while a declaration would mean there was.
Quite rightly, South Africa has resisted Trump’s strong-arm tactics. Commendably too, Pretoria has kept the door open for the US government to participate in the proceedings. At the 11th hour, reports emerged that the Americans would take him up on that offer. Ramaphosa confirmed the about-turn but was noncommittal on how the late edition would look in practice. How constructive their involvement will be remains to be seen.
Regardless of their attendance, most of the G20 members sent senior delegations to the two-day weekend summit. This is significant. A boycott by US allies, such as the G7 and EU, would have rendered the summit unsuccessful. Even more embarrassing would have been no-shows by allies in the Brics+ formation, a Global South alliance that is seen by many as a counterforce to the US-led world order.
On Thursday, Ramaphosa addressed two successful pre-G20 leaders’ summit events of civil society and business leaders from G20 members. As well as Start-Up20, these events included active US participation save for its government.
This means people-to-people relations between South Africans and Americans remain solid despite tensions between the two governments. It also means US allies are opting to advance their own national interests.
On Friday night, Ramaphosa will host a dinner with participating African heads of state.
All these events are contributing to the success of the G20, especially its subtheme of inclusivity.
There are challenges ahead. As he has done with policies of his predecessors, Trump may dump summit resolutions agreed during South Africa’s presidency. Also, South Africa might not be invited to next year’s G20.
Trump, who doesn’t believe in multilateralism, might use the US G20 presidency to reconfigure the group into a much leaner outfit. Within this calculus, casualties might include removing the EU and AU.
If this scenario comes to fruition, it will not be South Africa’s fault.
South Africa’s G20 is ambitious, but not unachievable. Getting a fractious continent such as Africa to coalesce around a common agenda is not easy, but South Africa has pulled it off.
Equally, South Africa has shepherded the entire G20, save for the US, to embrace the agenda and to work tirelessly as a cohesive unit up to this point.
What South Africa ought to focus on now is to ensure the success of the G20. Fixing potholes, clean water flows from the taps and ensuring lights are on for the past month are the easy parts of the mission.
The more challenging bit is negotiating an acceptable language for the summit’s declaration. The ultimate declaration’s text must be acceptable not only to the members attending the summit but also be hard to discard by the US in absentia.
Also, whether or not South Africa is invited to next year’s G20 leaders’ summit, it should continue the work of implementing the legacy programmes of its G20 presidency. For its part, the G20, as a collective, needs to safeguard the club’s future.
Trump may not remember the global financial crisis of 2008, but the world does and it also remembers the G20’s role in its resolution.
South Africa should keep its eye on the ball — a successful G20 summit.
Read all the latest G20 news, plus expert views on what SA’s leadership of this critical forum means when it comes to shaping global policies and advocating for Africa’s interests on the international stage on our G20 page.
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