South Africa said they will not travel to the USA to hand over the G20 presidency, either the US comes and collects it in South Africa, or host the next meeting without an official handover
This week, the South African government made it clear, it will NOT travel to the United States to hand over the G20 presidency.
According to Pretoria, the next move is now up to Washington. Either the US must come to South Africa, or go ahead and host the next G20 leaders’ summit without an official handover ceremony.
This standoff comes after months of rising tension between the two countries. Matters escalated when Donald Trump announced that the US would not send a delegation to the Johannesburg summit next week, while openly criticising South Africa’s role in the G20.
With the summit just days away, global eyes are now on how the US responds—and what this means for the future of the G20’s leadership tradition.