G20 exclusion by US meant to punish’ SA, says expert
An international relations expert has weighed in on the escalating diplomatic tensions between South Africa and the United States.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that South Africa won't be invited to next year's G20 Leaders’ Summit in Miami.
Pretoria's also been excluded from the first meeting of G20 sherpas this month.
Pretoria - which this week handed over the Presidency of the G20 to Washington - has been criticised for having what the US calls a 'radical agenda' and a tolerance for violence against Afrikaners.
Rubio says that under a US Presidency, the G20 will return to what he has referred to as real reforms.
He said America's 2026 G20 will, among other things, prioritise unlocking affordable and secure energy supply chains and pioneering new technologies and innovation.
International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola responded, saying no single member of the G20 has the right to shut another member out.
Brooks Spector is a former US Diplomat and an associate editor at the Daily Maverick.
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"So the Trump administration saw the most recent G20 as a kind of international version of the very things that they disliked in America on an individual national basis. And that led to the boycott that we saw, and the Trump version of the G20 is to return it to its original nature, which was solely related to issues of economics and international finance."
"And in the process, let's be clear, to punish South Africa by not including them."
President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa won't ask other nations to boycott the G20 under the US presidency, but that there are different ways to approach the situation.
"The knee-jerk reaction to boycott something doesn't solve the problem, and it doesn't make things better. It may make it worse. I would encourage the South African government to take the high ground and encourage important countries to say to the Trump administration. We really think you need to refine your approach."
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