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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the G20 summit in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, following his refusal of a US proposal for him to transfer authority to a lower-ranking embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by US Boycott

South Africa presented the 48-hour conference as a victory for global cooperation, 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’ve met in the face of major obstacles and demonstrated our ability to unite, even in times of great difficulty, to pursue a better world,” Ramaphosa stated in his closing speech.

Wrapping up his speech, he announced: “This ceremonial hammer of this G20 summit officially concludes this summit and now moves on to the subsequent leader 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.

G20 Declaration Highlights Climate Change and Equal Rights

The G20 issued a declaration on Saturday stressing the importance to tackle climate change and achieve “gender equality.” The Trump government had pulled out of the Paris environmental accord on the initial day of his second term and has reversed many policies designed to tackle discrimination based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.

US Administration Reaction

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

“This, combined with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 leaders’ declaration, despite consistent and strong American opposition, underscores the fact that they have exploited their leadership role to weaken the group’s core values,” she remarked.

Transition Procedure Disagreement

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 foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, told reporters: “From us, the ball has moved. We are done. The decision is theirs. Should they choose to engage, we are ready.”

Future Summit and Other Notable Non-Attendances

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

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei did not attend, also declined to support the declaration. Its diplomatic chief, 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 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 AU was added in 2023.

The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Chinese President 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 signatory. The Chinese president has assigned attending many international gatherings this year to China’s premier, Li Qiang.