South Africa rejects handover to Chargé d’Affaires after US rules out 'official' G20 participation
South Africa is the first African country to lead the G20, assuming the rotational annual presidency last December and due to hand over to the US.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says that Ramaphosa will not hand over the G20 Summit to a Chargé d’Affaires after the US reiterated that it would not attend the Summit in Johannesburg in an official capacity.
The White House earlier released a short statement saying its chargé ’d’affaires in Pretoria would attend the declaration handover ceremony as a formality at the end of the G20 Summit this weekend.
A chargé d'affaires was the title of a chief of mission, ranking below an ambassador or a minister. According to the National Museum of American Diplomacy, it is still used as the title of the head of a US mission where the US and other nation do not have full diplomatic relations.
"The ambassador or the representative of the embassy in South Africa is simply there to recognise that the United States will be the host of the G20; they are receiving that send-off at the end of the event, they are not there to participate in official talks," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
‘Change of mind’
Her remarks came after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the US and South Africa are discussing Washington’s participation in the summit following a “change of mind".
Vincent Magwenya, in a post on X, says Ramaphosa "will not hand over to a Charge d'Affaires."
South Africa is the first African country to lead the G20, a powerful group of nations. It assumed the rotational annual presidency of the group last December.
Relations between Washington and Pretoria have been frosty following disagreements on several foreign and domestic issues.
Earlier this month, Trump said no American officials would attend the Johannesburg summit, accusing South Africa of committing “human rights abuses” against white Afrikaners.
'No bullying'
South Africa has repeatedly rejected the allegations, saying claims of systematic persecution or land seizures targeting white Afrikaners are not supported by evidence.
Ramaphosa said earlier on Thursday that South Africa would not be bullied.
"It cannot be that a country's geographical location or income or army determines who has a voice and who is spoken down to," he told delegates at a G20 curtain-raiser event.
There "should be no bullying of one nation by another," Ramaphosa stressed.