Washington, Nov 28
US President Donald Trump, in a sharply worded social media post, cited alleged human rights violations in South Africa as the reason behind the United States' absence from the Johannesburg G20 Summit and announced that Pretoria will not be invited to the 2026 G20 Summit scheduled to be hosted in Miami. His remarks mark one of his most direct attacks on the South African government since returning to office.
The G20 Summit of Leaders concluded in Johannesburg recently, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and other world leaders in attendance. The US was notably absent from the high-level gathering.
In a social media post, Trump said the South African government was "indifferent" to what he described as severe human rights violations affecting white minority communities, and alleged that the country was witnessing targeted violence and the unlawful seizure of farms.
"To put it more bluntly, they are killing white people, and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them," Trump wrote, while criticising what he called a lack of international media scrutiny on the issue.
He also accused major US media outlets of ignoring the situation, referring specifically to The New York Times and what he described as the "Fake News Media".
Trump claimed that "Radical Left Media" organisations were losing credibility and shutting down because they did not address such human rights-related concerns.
The social media post further stated that at the conclusion of the Johannesburg summit, South Africa had refused to hand over the G20 presidency to a senior representative of the US Embassy who was present at the closing ceremony. Trump characterised this as a “snub†and said the action reflected what he deemed to be South Africa’s unworthiness of participating in multilateral forums.
"Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will not be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20, which will be hosted in the Great City of Miami, Florida next year," Trump wrote. The United States is scheduled to host the next G20 leaders' summit in Miami in 2026.
In an escalation of his remarks, Trump said Washington would "stop all payments and subsidies" extended to South Africa, with immediate effect. He did not specify which categories of bilateral or multilateral funding he intended to halt, nor did the post outline any administrative or legislative steps taken to implement such a decision.
The South African government has not yet issued an official response to Trump's assertions.
The allegations made by the US President in his X post have been the subject of long-running political debate in South Africa, where the government has repeatedly denied claims of race-targeted violence and maintains that its land reform framework follows constitutional guidelines.
The United States and South Africa have historically shared broad bilateral engagement across trade, development, defence cooperation, public health partnerships, and climate-related initiatives.
Differences, however, have periodically emerged on issues such as global governance, international sanctions, and foreign policy alignment.
Trump's latest comments seem to represent a notable intensification of tensions, particularly in the context of the G20 platform.
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- IANS
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