In an 11th-hour about-turn, the United States has told South Africa it wants to take part in this weekend’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday.
President Donald Trump’s administration had said it would not take part in the November 22-23 meeting and that no final statement by G20 leaders could be issued without its presence.
It has clashed with South Africa over various international and domestic policies this year, extending its objections to Pretoria’s G20 priorities for the meeting of leading economies being held for the first time in Africa.
“We have received notice from the United States, a notice which we are still in discussions with them over, about a change of mind about participating in one shape, form, or other in the summit,” Ramaphosa told reporters.
“This comes at a late hour before the summit begins. And so therefore, we do need to engage in those types of discussions to see how practical it is and what it finally really means,” he said.
In a note to the government on Saturday, the U.S. embassy repeated that it would not attend the summit, saying South Africa’s G20 priorities “run counter to the US policy views and we cannot support consensus on any documents negotiated under your presidency”.
In response, Ramaphosa said earlier 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,” Ramaphosa told delegates at a G20 curtain-raiser event.
There “should be no bullying of one nation by another”, he said.
– ‘Positive sign’ –
But after notice from Washington that it had reconsidered, Ramaphosa said the change of heart was “a positive sign”.
“All countries are here, and the United States, the biggest economy in the world, needs to be here,” he said.
“So it’s pleasing to hear that there is a change of approach, and so we are still discussing how that will manifest.”
It was not immediately clear how Washington would join the meeting, where around 40 countries will be present, including several heads of state.
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G20 members account for 85 per cent of global GDP and around two-thirds of the world’s population.
AFP
