South Africa confirmed Tuesday that it will withdraw from the Group of 20 (G20) economic forum for 2026, a move officials are calling a “temporary setback” that stems from tensions with President Donald Trump’s U.S. leadership of the forum. The announcement was made by South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Godongwana said South Africa is effectively taking a leave of absence from the G20 next year because it believes it will not be accredited to participate in the 2026 summit in Miami, where the United States holds the rotating presidency. “If you don’t have the accreditation, you can’t get into the venue, even if you are around,” he explained, framing the situation as a procedural barrier that leaves South Africa sidelined.
He stressed that the decision was not due to South Africa being formally expelled, but instead was tied to how G20 participation is managed during the U.S. presidency. Godongwana also pointed to the African Union, now a permanent G20 member, saying he is confident the AU will represent South African interests at the 2026 gathering. He expressed optimism that when Britain assumes the presidency in 2027, South Africa will once again play a full role in the forum.
The finance minister referenced broader efforts to amplify African voices in the G20, including moves to include Nigeria and Egypt as permanent invitees, though he suggested these efforts may have been blocked or stalled.
South Africa’s withdrawal follows a statement from President Trump last November indicating that the country would not be invited to the 2026 summit. At the time, Trump claimed the United States skipped the 2025 summit in South Africa because the South African government had failed to address what he described as “horrific human rights abuses endured by Afrikaners and other descendants of Dutch, French, and German settlers.” He also said South Africa refused to hand over the presidency at the close of its 2025 summit, leading him to announce the 2026 snub and a halt to U.S. payments and subsidies to the country.
The decision is unusual for the G20, a forum meant to foster global cooperation among major economies. South Africa’s announcement underscores how geopolitical frictions, particularly between Pretoria and Washington, can ripple into multilateral institutions and reshape diplomatic engagement in significant ways.
