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The leader of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the G20 summit in Johannesburg by striking a gavel, after rejecting a American suggestion for him to transfer authority to a lower-ranking embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by American Absence

South Africa presented the 48-hour conference as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was diminished by a withdrawal of the United States, which has repeatedly accused South Africa of discriminating against white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been widely discredited.

“We have gathered in the face of major obstacles and demonstrated our ability to unite, even in periods of hardship, 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 reconvene next year.” This was Ramaphosa’s only mention of the country missing from the gathering of the world’s largest economies.

Summit Communique Highlights Climate Change and Equal Rights

The G20 released a statement on Saturday stressing the importance to address environmental crises and achieve “gender equality.” Donald Trump’s administration had pulled out of the Paris environmental accord on the first 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 accused Ramaphosa of “declining to enable a seamless handover of the G20 presidency.”

“This, combined with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 summit statement, despite consistent and robust US objections, highlights the reality that they have exploited their leadership role to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she remarked.

Handover Protocol Controversy

South Africa had proposed to organize for an similarly ranked official to officially transfer the G20 presidency to the US at the diplomatic headquarters. Authorities explained it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US interim envoy.

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

Future Summit and Additional Absences

The 2026 summit is scheduled to take place at the Trump National Doral Miami golfing facility, which is owned by the Trump Organization.

The nation of Argentina, led by President Javier Milei skipped the summit, also refused to endorse the communique. Its foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, said: “Specifically it addresses the protracted Middle Eastern dispute in a manner that does not fully reflect its full complexity.”

The G20 document read: “We will work for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Sudan and the DRC, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as resolving additional disputes 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 incorporated last year.

The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were also not present at the meeting. The Russian president faces an arrest warrant by the international criminal court, to which South Africa is a member state. Xi has delegated participation in numerous global events this year to China’s prime minister, Li Qiang.