Washington sends invites and excludes SA for first meeting of G20 — News24:
‘The United States has sent out invitations to G20 members for the first Sherpa meeting of its presidency of the forum but left out South Africa, according to the Department of International Relations.’
.’The omission suggests that US President Donald Trump intends to make good on his threat to exclude South Africa from the world’s premier forum for macroeconomic cooperation while Washington holds the rotating presidency, which it assumed on Monday.’
•’International relations spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said as a founding member, South Africa’s commitment to the G20’s principles and collaborative framework “remains steadfast”.’
•’Phiri added that Pretoria was confident that all fellow member states believed that the G20 drew its legitimacy from this commitment and its full, current composition and recognised the risk of sidelining any member.’
•'”Any unilateral departure from this consensus would not only fragment our collective agenda but would inevitably set a precedent, introducing a new and destabilising variable into the calculus of membership for every nation present,” he told News24.’
‘It is reliably understood that the Sherpas will meet from 15 to 16 December.’