Johannesburg (AFP) – South Africa responded Thursday to a US bar on its participation in G20 events under Washington’s presidency by saying it was a fully-fledged member of the forum and expected to be treated equally. The United States took over this month the presidency of the group of leading economies after largely boycotting South Africa’s tenure, including the November summit, in an escalation of a months-long standoff with Pretoria.
In a blistering attack on Wednesday of Pretoria’s G20 run, Secretary of State Marco Rubio repeated President Donald Trump’s statement a few weeks ago that it would not be invited to G20 events in the coming year, including a summit due in Miami. Asked about the statement, President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters: “We are yet to receive it in writing and we will deal with that when it comes.” South Africa was “fully fledged member of the G20” and its presidency had been internationally described as successful, he added.
“All we want, really, as South Africa is to be treated as an equal, sovereign country, a country that respects other countries, a country that fosters the success and prosperity of other countries,” he said. The G20 group of nations includes the world’s top economies as well as the European Union and the African Union regional blocs. It accounts for 85 percent of the world’s GDP and two-thirds of its population.
Rubio said in a Substack post that South Africa’s G20 was an exercise in “radical agendas” that ignored US objections. The “United States will not be extending an invitation to the South African government to participate in the G20 during our presidency,” he said. Rubio repeated criticism of South Africa’s domestic and international policies, including unfounded allegations of discrimination against the white Afrikaner minority that led Washington to offer them refugee status.
Presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya said South Africa had anticipated US announcements that it would not be invited and was looking ahead to the next presidency to be held by Britain. “About this time next year, the UK will be taking over the G20 Presidency,” Magwenya said on social media. “We will be able to engage meaningfully and substantively over what really matters to the rest of the world. For now, we will take a commercial break until we resume normal programming,” he said.
The Trump administration has lashed out at South Africa over a range of policies, expelling its ambassador in March and imposing 30 percent trade tariffs, which Pretoria is still seeking to overturn. Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola replied to Rubio’s comments in a statement that defended South African policies to “redress” apartheid-era discrimination against the black majority. He said Rubio’s claims of racism and the tolerance of violence against Afrikaners, who are descendants of the first Dutch settlers, “could not be further from the truth.”
“We do not seek your approval for our path,” Lamola wrote. “But we do seek — and we will always extend — a hand of respectful partnership.”
© 2024 AFP
