By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola issued an open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the latter criticized South Africa’s domestic policies and its G20 stewardship in a Substack post on Wednesday.
Reaffirming South Africa’s Role in the G20, Lamola said that South Africa’s presidency emphasized equal partnership with Africa and the Global South, as well as the need to address systemic macroeconomic challenges affecting developing economies.
“It is a matter of public record that the United States chose not to attend the G20 meetings. Given that absence, the notion of South Africa’s ‘sabotaging’ consensus is not just incorrect, it misunderstands the very purpose of a forum like the G20,” said the minister.
“True leadership doesn’t mean everyone leaves getting everything they want; it means everyone leaves feeling they have been truly heard,” he added.
Rubio said South Africa would not be invited to participate in G20 meetings while the US leads the forum for next year.
South Africa has not received any formal communication of exclusion and has been included in the first Sherpa meeting of the US’s G20 presidency scheduled for December 15.
The decision by Rubio, follows a boycott by Washington of the recent summit and a diplomatic row over the ceremonial hand-off of the G20 presidency. South Africa handed over the presidency of the G20 at end-November in a low-key ceremony at the head office of the international relations & co-operation department.
“Secretary Rubio, the world is watching. It is growing weary of double standards,” Lamola wrote in an open letter to Rubio.
We do not seek your approval for our path.”
It was one of South Africa’s strongest responses yet to an onslaught of US criticism this year, although Lamola underlined that he remained open to dialogue.
Relations between Washington and Pretoria have reached a low in recent months as Donald Trump has repeatedly made false claims about a “white genocide” in South Africa and criticised the country for its policies aimed at addressing historical racial inequality.
“Our policies of redress are not a political invention. They are the fulfilment of a promise made to all South Africans as we emerged from the darkness of apartheid,” Lamola wrote.
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday reiterated that Pretoria remains “a fully fledged member of the G20”.
“All we want, really, as South Africa, is to be treated as an equal, sovereign country.”
Pretoria’s participation in the 2026 Group of 20 (G20) appears set to be more subdued after the US state department confirmed it will exclude South Africa from the G20 2026 summit and invite Poland instead.