₦airaland Forum

Trump wants South Africa out of the G20 as it gears up for world summit

Mayeni Jones
Africa correspondent, Johannesburg
12 hours ago

South Africa has skated over the latest criticism from US President Donald Trump, who has said he does not think the country should be part of the G20 any longer.

Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told the BBC his country was confident it would host a very successful G20 summit when leaders from the world's largest economies gather in Johannesburg later this month.

Trump, who has repeatedly accused South Africa of discriminating against its white minority, will not be attending - sending Vice-President JD Vance instead.

Every year, a different member state holds the presidency of the G20 and sets the agenda for the leaders' summit - with the US due to take over after South Africa.

"South Africa shouldn't even be in the Gs any more, because what's happened there is bad. I'm not going to represent our country there. It shouldn't be there," Trump said at a conference in Miami on Wednesday.

South Africa's government declined to make a full statement in response to these comments, though last week it hit back at the US's decision to prioritise refugee applications from white South African Afrikaners, who are mostly descendants of Dutch and French settlers.

It said claims of a white genocide had been widely discredited and lacked reliable evidence.

South Africa's latest crime statistics do not indicate that more white people have fallen victim to violent crime than other racial groups.

The G20 was founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis. The nations involved have more than 85% of the world's wealth and its aim was to restore economic stability.

The first leaders' summit was held in 2008 in response to that year's global financial turmoil, to promote international co-operation.

Now the leaders get together each year - along with representatives of the European Union and African Union - to talk about the world's economies and the issues countries are facing.

There is no formal procedure laid down for kicking a country out of the G20 as it is not a treaty-based organisation like the UN and does not have a legal charter or constitution. It is an informal forum that operates by consensus.

"If a country was going to be kicked out, it would basically mean that it was excluded from the meetings - it wasn't invited to the meetings by whoever was hosting the G20 that year," Dr Andrew Gawthorpe from UK-based think-tank the Foreign Policy Centre told the BBC.

"But the host country would be unlikely to take the decision to not invite another country unless there was agreement amongst the rest of the members to do that," he said.

Chris Vandome, senior research fellow at Chatham House's Africa programme, agrees such a consensus would be unlikely - and historically the US's participation in the G20 had been regarded as disruptive.

"A number of the working groups and ministerial meetings have not led to declarations… because the Americans have been disrupting things," he told the BBC.

In fact he noted that other countries had doubled down and seen the US's position as an opportunity.

"In particular the European Union, with large financial commitments made to South Africa and Africa," Mr Vandrome said.

"Also, on the Asian side, there's no way that I think that China would accept a sort of rejection of South Africa."

The obvious historical precedent is Russia's expulsion from what was then the G8 - a grouping of the world's most advanced economies - after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Russia remains in the G20, which includes countries from around the world. There were calls for Russia to be expelled from the G20 after the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but in a larger grouping of countries with their own alliances, consensus could not be reached.

This year South Africa has adopted the theme of solidarity, equality and sustainability - something the country's foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri emphasised following Trump's criticism.

"Drawing on our own journey from racial and ethnic division to democracy, South Africa is uniquely positioned to champion within the G20 a future of genuine solidarity, where shared prosperity bridges deep inequalities," Mr Phiri said in a statement to the BBC.

"And collective action for sustainability that centres the development to address the impact of colonialism of the African continent."

Trump offered refugee status to Afrikaners earlier this year after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a law allowing the government to seize land without compensation in rare instances.

Most private farmland is owned by white South Africans, who make up just over 7% of the population.

South Africa made efforts to soothe tensions, with Ramaphosa going to the White House in May with a large delegation that included white members of his coalition government and also famous white South African golfers.

But Trump ambushed the Oval Office meeting with claims that white South African farmers were being killed and "persecuted" - producing unsubstantiated evidence that has been widely discredited.

Further efforts by South Africa to mend the relationship failed, with Africa's largest economy being hit in August with 30% tariffs on goods being exported to the US - the highest rate in sub-Saharan Africa.

Additional reporting by Stuart Hughes

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0kdvlwl9jo?


The relationship between US President Donald Trump and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa has gone from bad to worse this year

Anything Trump says is supreme.

Trump is just being Trump.

naptu2:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0kdvlwl9jo?


The relationship between US President Donald Trump and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa has gone from bad to worse this year

Like Nigeria's with that belligerent dump.

The Orange turd already said he is not attending!

Dude knows he is already isolated and has no reason to go!

Where does his administration stands today in terms of international relations? All time low. The best he got is Qatar, Saudi, Argentina and Finland.

He has burnt all bridges to extent that even his vice was indirectly insulting the UK.

He should sit back and change his diapers in the White House. No one needs his presence in the first place.

I just love how SA do their best to stand shoulder tall in global politics. Nigeria needs to start doing more of that.

The Epstein files would implicate his ass.

No

HacheNoire:
The Orange turd already said he is not attending!

Dude knows he is already isolated and has no reason to go!

Where does his administration stands today in terms of international relations? All time low. The best he got is Qatar, Saudi, Argentina and Finland.

He has burnt all bridges to extent that even his vice was indirectly insulting the UK.

He should sit back and change his diapers in the White House. No one needs his presence in the first place.

The hate you have for him can't change the fact that he's the leader of the world and will deal with Nigerian govt for committing genocide..

Trump is a clown. He should have stayed in the circus.

Mrfixitt:
NoThe hate you have for him can't change the fact that he's the leader of the world and will deal with Nigerian govt for committing genocide..

You have watched too much of American movies.

The world is no longer unipolar like those days. People are wiser now.

Deal with the most populous country on the continent?

Now I know why Trump said smart people don’t like him!

HacheNoire:
You have watched too much American of American movies.

The world is no longer unipolar like those days. People are wiser now.

Deal with the most populous country on the continent?

Now I know why Trump said smart people don’t like him!

You think like a child. Nigerian lives matter and the world is seeing a glaring genocide. Tinubu won't escape the punishment and note this, he WILL NEVER RETURN as president

Why?
Trump??
Dundun e ti lata Ju
We're all sovereign country

For what? SA is part of G2O ..

Raving m4d orange loonarteek

Mentally unstable dumb Trump

HacheNoire:
You have watched too much of American movies.

The world is no longer unipolar like those days. People are wiser now.

Deal with the most populous country on the continent?

Now I know why Trump said smart people don’t like him!

Basically, you are saying human population is now a deterrent to external forces?

Like ants or something? Lool.

Obviously, being smart is not the same as being intelligent.

God bless Mazi Nnamdi Kanu

HacheNoire:
The Orange turd already said he is not attending!

Dude knows he is already isolated and has no reason to go!

Where does his administration stands today in terms of international relations? All time low. The best he got is Qatar, Saudi, Argentina and Finland.

He has burnt all bridges to extent that even his vice was indirectly insulting the UK.

He should sit back and change his diapers in the White House. No one needs his presence in the first place.

Just dey nairaland dey deceive yourself and people that can't think for themselves.

Trump's comments are just that, comments. The G20 operates on consensus, and it's unlikely that any moves against South Africa would gain traction.

Mrfixitt:
NoThe hate you have for him can't change the fact that he's the leader of the world and will deal with Nigerian govt for committing genocide..

Which genocide was that?

Which genocide did Nigeria Govt commited?

PDPdestroyer:
Raving m4d orange loonarteek

The werey dey blame Obama too lol

Another day another noise. Worse American leader. Focus on your country. After they've seen their movies and media don't work on people anymore, they have finally revealed their horns

Mrfixitt:
You think like a child. Nigerian lives matter and the world is seeing a glaring genocide. Tinubu won't escape the punishment and note this, he WILL NEVER RETURN as president

Punish and Remove the Tinubu ASAP.

It's more than overdo.

South Africa is not fit to be among G20.


A xenophobic nation that haven't been able to solve their daily broad daylight city robbery issues cannot be a G20 country

Mrfixitt:
NoThe hate you have for him can't change the fact that he's the leader of the world and will deal with Nigerian govt for committing genocide..

That's the truth that they don't want to know.

When foolish voters vote for wrong leaders.


Still imagine how on earth, people voted for madman, having tested him once and saw his lunatic character.

Trump the orange bully with his house boy, J.D Vance makes a funny read most times.

Trump want to use Elon musk lies to remove South africa from G20

The same way, they are using Christian genocide to blackmail Nigeria

White people are kind of cunny

Good

There is one sweet flavor America is having lately.

It's the hand of the Lord upon him.