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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the G20 summit in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, after rejecting a US proposal for him to transfer authority to a lower-ranking embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Summit Marred by American Absence

South Africa presented the two-day event as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was overshadowed by a boycott by the US, which has repeatedly accused South Africa of discriminating against white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been widely discredited.

“We’ve met in the face of major obstacles and shown our capacity to unite, even in periods of hardship, to strive for global improvement,” Ramaphosa stated in his final address.

Concluding his remarks, he noted: “This ceremonial hammer of this G20 summit officially concludes this summit and now moves on to the subsequent leader of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall reconvene next year.” It represented Ramaphosa’s only mention of the country missing from the gathering of the world’s largest economies.

Summit Communique Highlights Global Warming and Equal Rights

The G20 released a statement on Saturday emphasizing the need to address environmental crises and achieve “gender equality.” The Trump government had pulled out of the Paris climate agreement on the initial day of his new mandate and has reversed many policies designed to tackle sexism, racism and homophobia.

US Administration Reaction

US administration representative Anna Kelly claimed the president of “declining to enable a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.”

“This, combined with South Africa’s push to issue a G20 summit statement, notwithstanding repeated and robust US objections, underscores the fact that they have weaponised their G20 presidency to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she remarked.

Handover Protocol Controversy

South Africa had offered to arrange for an similarly ranked official to officially transfer the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Officials had stated it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US acting ambassador.

South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “From us, the ball has moved. Our role is complete. It’s up to them. Should they choose to engage, we are ready.”

Upcoming Gathering and Additional Absences

The 2026 summit is scheduled to take place at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golf resort, which is owned by the Trump Organization.

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also declined to support the declaration. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, commented: “In particular, it deals with the protracted Middle Eastern dispute in a manner that does not fully reflect its full complexity.”

The G20 document read: “We are committed for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as ending other conflicts and wars around the globe.”

G20 Background

The G20 was founded in the wake of the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The African Union was added in 2023.

The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also not present at the meeting. Putin is wanted by the ICC, to which South Africa is a signatory. Xi has delegated participation in numerous global events this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.