US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he won’t attend the G20 Summit in Johannesburg this year, accusing South Africa of “doing very bad things” and “anti-Americanism”.

The new US top diplomat repeated President Donald Trump’s false claim that Pretoria was confiscating private property and violating human rights, indicating deteriorating relations between South Africa and the US over various foreign and domestic policy disagreements.

South Africa’s policies on China, Russia, Ukraine and Israel are at the centre of the tension.
The Group of Twenty (G20) is an international forum comprising 20 leading economies in the world, the European Union and the African Union (AU).

It has been established to address major global economic issues, including international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development. Collectively, G20 members represent about 85% of the global economy, over 75% of international trade, and approximately two-thirds of the world’s population.

South Africa assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, 2024, from Brazil, marking the first time an African nation has led the forum. Under the theme “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,” Pretoria aims to address pressing global challenges, focusing on the interests of Africa and the broader Global South.

In a social media posting on Thursday, February 6, Rubio questioned South Africa’s G20 theme of solidarity, equality and sustainability, alleging it was a code for climate change, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). One of Trump’s first decisions as US President was to sign an Executive Order eliminating transgender and other DEI programs in the military.

“I will NOT attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg. South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote “solidarity, equality, & sustainability.” In other words: DEI and climate change. My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism,” Rubio said on X (formerly Twitter).

Rubio’s decision also indicates escalating tensions between Pretoria and Washington, laid bare by Trump’s claim this week that South Africa expropriated private land, treated certain classes (whites) very badly, and had racist policies.

Trump’s false claim came after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Bill on January 24.

“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY. It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention. A massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at a minimum, is happening for all to see. The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed,” Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social on February 2.

Ramaphosa has rejected Trump’s claims that his government confiscated private property and violated human rights, saying that the Expropriation Act is a constitutionally mandated instrument to ensure a just and equitable land redistribution. He said it is not a land confiscation tool.

“The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution.

“South Africa, like the United States of America and other countries, has always had expropriation laws that balance the need for public usage of land and the protection of rights of property owners,” Ramaphosa said on X on February 3.

He promised to discuss the matter with Trump.

“We look forward to engaging with the Trump administration over our land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest. We are certain that out of those engagements, we will share a better and common understanding over these matters,” Ramaphosa added.

The South African leader later discussed the issue telephonically with Billionaire US businessman Elon Musk, one of Trump’s closest allies. Earlier, Musk had also taken issue with the Expropriation Act, publicly accusing Ramaphosa of adopting “openly racist policies”, a claim the South African government rejected.

Tensions between South Africa and the US were laid bare in recent years over China, Russia, Ukraine and Israel.

Pretoria attracted the ire of Washington when it cemented ties with China and Russia, refused to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin after he invaded Ukraine, and gravitated towards BRICS and the South.

Things came to a head when South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year, accusing the Jewish State of committing a crime against humanity in Gaza. The US supports Israel financially, militarily and diplomatically.

The US accused South Africa of supporting Russia and threatened to remove Pretoria from the American Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Since assuming the US Presidency on January 20, Trump has dissolved the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and suspended all foreign aid for 90 days.

The move froze billions worth of aid, including hundreds of millions in HIV/AIDS-related funding to South Africa. In addition to South Africa, the Trump Administration targeted countries such as China, Mexico, Canada, Panama and the European Union (EU) with tariffs and a funding freeze.

The Johannesburg G20 summit will be the third successive gathering hosted by a BRICS member country amid growing tensions between the Chinese and Russian-led economic bloc and the US-led G7 (US, Canada, Italy, Germany, UK, France and Japan). Brazil and India hosted the last two summits.

The Brics expansion from five to ten members in 2023, and the bloc’s position as the most influential and biggest economic alliance in the world, have eroded US power and global dominance.

The combined GDP of the Brics countries exceeds that of the G7, while China is tipped to replace the US as the biggest economy in the world by 2023.