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The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the Group of Twenty meeting in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, after rejecting a American suggestion for him to transfer authority to a relatively junior embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by American Absence

The host nation portrayed the 48-hour conference as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was overshadowed 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 have gathered in the face of major obstacles and shown our capacity to unite, even in times of great difficulty, to strive for global improvement,” the president declared in his final address.

Concluding his remarks, he announced: “This ceremonial hammer of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now proceeds to the next president of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other again next year.” This was Ramaphosa’s only mention of the nation absent from the assembly of major global powers.

Summit Communique Focuses On Climate Change and Gender Equality

The G20 released a statement on Saturday stressing the importance to tackle climate change and achieve “gender equality.” The Trump government had withdrawn from the Paris environmental accord on the initial day of his second term and has reversed many policies aimed at combating sexism, racism and homophobia.

White House Response

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

“This, coupled with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 summit statement, notwithstanding repeated and strong American opposition, 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 equivalent “junior” diplomat to formally hand the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Authorities explained it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US acting ambassador.

South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, informed the press: “From us, the ball has moved. We are done. The decision is theirs. If they want to come, we are available.”

Upcoming Gathering and Additional Absences

The 2026 summit is set to occur at the Trump-owned Doral Miami golf resort, which is under Trump corporate ownership.

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also refused to endorse the communique. Its foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, said: “In particular, it deals with the longstanding Middle East conflict 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 and the DRC, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine, as well as ending other conflicts and global hostilities.”

G20 Background

The G20 was established following the Asian economic turmoil in 1999, with 19 countries plus the EU. The African Union was incorporated last year.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico's leader Claudia Sheinbaum were also absent from the summit. The Russian president faces an arrest warrant by the international criminal court, to which South Africa is a member state. Xi has delegated attending many international gatherings this year to China’s prime minister, Li Qiang.