The Donald Trump administration has announced that South Africa will not receive an invitation to the 2026 G20 summit in the United States, effectively barring the African nation from next year’s gathering.
President Trump said this decision follows what he called a refusal by South Africa to formally hand over the G20 presidency to a U.S. Embassy representative after the 2025 summit held in Johannesburg a move the administration described as a breach of diplomatic protocol.
As part of the same action, the U.S. will stop all payments and subsidies to South Africa, with the White House framing the exclusion as a response to alleged human-rights abuses against white South Africans, specifically claims of violence against Afrikaner farmers.
The reaction from Pretoria was swift: the government rejected the move as “regrettable,” reiterating that South Africa is a founding G20 member and should not be subjected to unilateral exclusion by any single state.
Global observers warn this development may deepen tensions between the United States and allied nations in Africa, undermining confidence in multilateral norms and the G20’s integrity.
