Staff Reporter

A diplomatic dispute between South Africa and the United States of America has deepened at the dawn of the G20 summit, with Pretoria strongly objecting to Washington’s plan to use a junior embassy official for the official handover ceremony marking the transition to the next host, which will be the US.

The two-day summit, the first ever hosted by an African nation, opens today amid a bitter dispute following the Trump administration’s decision to boycott the high-level talks in Johannesburg.

South Africa’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, publicly rejected the US proposal, stating that President Cyril Ramaphosa will not be handing over to a junior embassy official.

Ramaphosa had previously hinted he might hand the G20 presidency to an empty chair, though he expressed a preference for handing it directly to US President Donald Trump.

The escalation followed sharp rhetoric from both sides. Ramaphosa told a press conference that countries should not be bullied and that their sovereignty should be respected.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt retaliated swiftly, accusing Ramaphosa of running his mouth a little bit against the United States, and asserting that the US ambassador or representative was simply there to recognise that the United States will be the host of the G20, not to participate in official talks.

The 2026 G20 summit is scheduled to take place at the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort in Florida.

The diplomatic tension comes as the US has for months been accusing South Africa of racial discrimination against minority white Afrikaners, a charge that South Africa has vehemently rejected.

South Africa is using its G20 presidency to champion issues critical to the African continent, including high levels of public debt and maximizing benefits from the growing demand for critical minerals used in green technologies.