Trump digs in on SA’s G20 exclusion despite international appeals

South Africa is shifting its attention away from the dispute over its exclusion from the G20, with ambassador to the United States Roelf Meyer saying the government is focusing on other avenues of engagement. This is despite public support from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the initial calls made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to allow South Africa’s participation in the forum.

Meyer made the remarks at the Cape Town Press Club on Monday, where he discussed his new memoir, and acknowledged that the backing South Africa had received from some international figures had not changed the government’s immediate approach to the dispute.

“I don’t think it’s troubling the South African government at this stage too much,” Meyer said.

One of the immediate opportunities for continued engagement is the Business 20 (B20), the business-focused forum associated with the G20, which is scheduled to take place in Washington in early November.

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Meyer said South African business representatives had been invited to attend the gathering and that the embassy would also participate. He emphasised that the forum was organised by the business community.

“We’ve been invited to be there, but it’s organised by business. So, we will have business representatives at the B20,” he said.

The planned participation comes against the backdrop of strained relations between Pretoria and Washington, with Meyer acknowledging that repairing the relationship remained an important task.

“There is at the moment, unfortunately, a tension. The relationship is strained. Everybody knows it, and we have to work and find ways to get out of this,” he said.

Meyer, who has experience in difficult negotiations dating back to the apartheid era, declined to assign responsibility for the current tensions. Instead, he said his priority was to help rebuild relations as quickly as possible.

He argued that the economic significance of the United States made it important for South Africa to preserve the relationship, particularly given the American companies operating in the country.

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He cited more than 600 US companies doing business in South Africa, highlighting their contribution to employment.

“Our job is to create jobs in South Africa. That is ultimately what it is about,” he said.

Meyer said both political and trade relations needed attention, warning that the current tensions could not continue indefinitely.

“We can’t go on like this,” he said.

Relations between Pretoria and Washington have deteriorated since there have been accusations of a white genocide in South Africa. Although the information has been found to be incorrect, Trump has continued to condemn the country for persecuting Afrikaners. The US administration raised objections to South Africa’s land reform and Black economic empowerment policies, as well as its foreign policy positions, particularly its stance on Israel.

This led to the Trump administration’s boycott of the South Africa’s G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg in November 2025. The dispute deepened over the transfer of the G20 presidency, after Ramaphosa’s administration refused to hand it to a US embassy official instead of a senior government representative.

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