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The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the G20 summit in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, following his refusal of a American suggestion for him to hand over duties to a relatively junior embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by US Boycott

The host nation portrayed the two-day event as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was diminished by a withdrawal of the United States, which has repeatedly accused South Africa of showing bias toward white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been widely discredited.

“We’ve met in the face of major obstacles and shown our capacity to come together, even in periods of hardship, to pursue a better world,” Ramaphosa stated in his final address.

Wrapping up his speech, he noted: “This gavel of this G20 summit officially concludes this summit and now moves on to the next president of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other again next year.” It represented Ramaphosa’s only mention of the nation absent from the gathering of the world’s largest economies.

G20 Declaration Highlights Climate Change and Equal Rights

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday emphasizing the need to tackle climate change and achieve “equal opportunities for all genders.” Donald Trump’s administration had pulled out of the Paris climate agreement on the first day of his second term and has overturned numerous measures aimed at combating discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.

US Administration Reaction

US administration representative Anna Kelly accused Ramaphosa of “refusing to facilitate a smooth transition of the G20 presidency.”

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

Transition Procedure 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 breach protocol for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US acting ambassador.

South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, told reporters: “From us, the ball has moved. Our role is complete. The decision is theirs. Should they choose to engage, we are ready.”

Upcoming Gathering and Additional Absences

The 2026 conference is scheduled to take place at the Trump National Doral Miami golfing facility, which is under Trump corporate ownership.

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also declined to support the declaration. Its foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, said: “In particular, it deals with the protracted Middle Eastern dispute in a manner that fails to capture its full complexity.”

The G20 document read: “We will work for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine, as well as ending other conflicts and global hostilities.”

Group of Twenty History

The G20 was established following the Asian financial crisis in 1999, with 19 nations and the European Union. The African Union was added in 2023.

The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico's leader Claudia Sheinbaum were also not present at the meeting. Putin is wanted by the ICC, to which South Africa is a signatory. The Chinese president has assigned attending many international gatherings this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.