JOHANNESBURG – In a pointed rebuke to global power imbalances, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa declared on Thursday that no country should be permitted to bully another based on its economic or military strength, emphasizing that all nations stand as equals on the world stage. His remarks, delivered amid escalating tensions with the United States, underscore the challenges facing the upcoming G20 Leaders’ Summit, set to convene in Johannesburg on November 22-23, 2025 – the first time the influential forum has gathered on African soil.
“It cannot be that a country’s geographical location, income level, or army determines who has a voice and who is spoken down to,” Ramaphosa stated during closing remarks at the G20 Social Summit in Boksburg, a bustling industrial hub east of Johannesburg. Speaking to an audience of civil society leaders, labor representatives, and delegates from across the G20 nations, he elaborated: “It basically means there should be no bullying of one nation by another. We are all equal.” The event, held at the Birchwood Conference Centre from November 18-20, marked the culmination of South Africa’s year-long push to infuse the G20 with grassroots perspectives, focusing on themes of solidarity, equality, and sustainability.
Ramaphosa’s words carried an unmistakable subtext: the ongoing diplomatic rift with Washington, which has threatened to derail the summit’s outcomes. The U.S., under President Donald Trump, announced earlier this month that no American officials would attend, citing alleged “human rights abuses” against white Afrikaner farmers in South Africa. In a November 8 post on his Truth Social platform, Trump alleged that “Afrikaners are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated,” labeling the hosting of the G20 in South Africa a “total disgrace.” This boycott extends a pattern of friction that began shortly after Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025, including the suspension of U.S. aid to Pretoria in February and the fast-tracking of Afrikaner refugees to America.
Pretoria has categorically rejected these claims as baseless and inflammatory. South African officials, including Ramaphosa, have repeatedly pointed out that farm murders, while tragic, do not constitute a targeted “genocide” against white farmers. Data from the Transvaal Agricultural Union, a predominantly Afrikaner farmers’ group, shows just 32 such incidents in 2024 – a decline from previous years – amid a national murder rate far exceeding G20 averages but affecting all demographics. “If there was an Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you these three gentlemen would not be here,” Ramaphosa quipped during a tense May 2025 White House meeting with Trump, gesturing to prominent white South Africans like golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, and billionaire Johann Rupert. Even AfriForum, a vocal Afrikaner advocacy group, has distanced itself from the “genocide” narrative, urging focus on broader rural safety rather than racial conspiracies.
The dispute traces back to South Africa’s land reform policies, aimed at redressing apartheid-era dispossessions. A 2024 expropriation law allows for land seizures without compensation in limited cases of public interest, but no widespread confiscations have occurred. Critics like Trump and Elon Musk – a South African-born tech mogul and former Trump ally – have amplified fringe claims of “white genocide,” echoing 2018 rhetoric that prompted Trump’s initial tweet on the issue. South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana dismissed these as “irresponsible” in November, noting that Afrikaners remain prominent in business, politics, and agriculture.
Despite the U.S. absence, Ramaphosa affirmed that South Africa would proceed with a leaders’ joint declaration at the summit’s close, defying Washington’s demand to withhold it. “We will have a declaration. The talks are going extremely well. I’m confident we are moving towards a declaration, and they are now just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s,” he told reporters post-summit. Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola echoed this resolve: “We will not be told by anyone who is absent that we cannot adopt a declaration or make any decisions at the summit.” In a potential thaw, Ramaphosa revealed ongoing discussions with U.S. officials about “a change of mind” on participation, though the White House labeled reports of Trump’s attendance as “fake news.”
As the first African nation to helm the G20 – assuming the rotational presidency on December 1, 2024 – South Africa views the summit as a pivotal platform to amplify the Global South’s voice. The group, comprising 19 countries plus the European Union and African Union, represents over 85% of global GDP, more than 70% of world trade, and two-thirds of the planet’s population. Under Ramaphosa’s theme of “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,” the agenda prioritizes debt relief for low-income nations, financing just energy transitions, disaster resilience, critical minerals supply chains, and – for the first time as a standalone item – tackling global inequality via an expert taskforce on wealth disparities.
Preparatory events have set an inclusive tone. The B20 business forum, wrapping up November 20 at Johannesburg’s Sandton Convention Centre, urged G20 nations to boost trade and investment amid geopolitical headwinds. The G20 Social Summit, which Ramaphosa hailed as a “historic milestone,” produced a declaration calling for prioritizing women’s and children’s health, greater female representation in decision-making, and classifying gender-based violence (GBV) as a national crisis – a step Ramaphosa endorsed on the spot. This aligns with nationwide protests planned for Friday, including a “Women’s Shutdown” by Women for Change, demanding urgent action on GBV and femicide, which claims over 1,000 women’s lives annually in South Africa.
The summit arrives against a backdrop of polycrisis: escalating climate disasters, supply chain disruptions from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and a fragmented global order. With absences from leaders like China’s Xi Jinping (sending Premier Li Qiang), Argentina’s Javier Milei, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin (due to an ICC warrant), the event risks diluted clout. Yet confirmed attendees, including India’s Narendra Modi, Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Japan’s Sanae Takaichi, signal robust engagement from emerging powers. European leaders, such as European Council President António Costa and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, met Ramaphosa on November 20 to affirm EU-South Africa ties, focusing on trade, green energy, and migration.
Ramaphosa framed the G20 not as an elite “small club of leaders” but a mechanism for “the people in the world” to shape global cooperation. He invoked Ubuntu – the African philosophy of interconnected humanity – to argue that true progress demands equity: “Societies cannot be rooted in equality unless they uphold the rights of women and girls,” he said, linking domestic GBV reforms to international commitments. As South Africa hands over the presidency to the U.S. on December 1 – potentially to Trump’s “empty chair,” as Ramaphosa wryly noted – the Johannesburg summit could redefine multilateralism.
Budgeted at R691 million (about $38.7 million USD), the event has boosted local economies through infrastructure upgrades at Nasrec Expo Centre, the summit venue. Youth delegates and African Union guests, including Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, will amplify calls for Agenda 2063 integration into G20 priorities. Analysts see this as a “defining moment for the Global South,” potentially yielding breakthroughs on debt restructuring – vital for nations like Zambia and Ethiopia – and AI governance to prevent digital divides.
As delegates descend on Johannesburg, Ramaphosa’s anti-bullying stance resonates beyond bilateral spats. In an era of U.S. retreat from multilateralism, it champions a G20 where power yields to principle. Whether the summit delivers a binding declaration or a host’s summary remains uncertain, but South Africa’s debut presidency has already etched Africa into the forum’s DNA. The world watches: can solidarity triumph over division?
