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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa formally concluded the G20 summit in Johannesburg by banging a ceremonial hammer, following his refusal of a US proposal for him to transfer authority to a relatively junior embassy official for the next summit in Florida.

Event Overshadowed by American Absence

South Africa presented the 48-hour conference as a triumph for multilateralism, but it was diminished by a withdrawal of the United States, which has repeatedly accused South Africa of showing bias toward white-minority Afrikaners—a claim that has been broadly refuted.

“We’ve met in the face of major obstacles and shown our capacity to come together, even in times of great difficulty, to pursue a better world,” Ramaphosa stated in his final address.

Concluding his remarks, he noted: “This ceremonial hammer of this G20 summit officially concludes this summit and now proceeds to the next president of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall reconvene next year.” This was Ramaphosa’s only mention of the nation absent from the assembly of major global powers.

Summit Communique Highlights Global Warming and Gender Equality

The G20 released a statement on Saturday emphasizing the need to address environmental crises and achieve “gender equality.” The Trump government had pulled out of the Paris climate agreement on the first day of his second term and has overturned numerous measures designed to tackle sexism, racism and homophobia.

US Administration Reaction

US administration representative Anna Kelly claimed the president of “declining to enable a smooth transition of the G20 presidency.”

“This, coupled with South Africa’s effort to release a G20 summit statement, notwithstanding repeated and strong American opposition, highlights the reality that they have exploited their leadership role to undermine the G20’s founding principles,” she remarked.

Transition Procedure Disagreement

South Africa had offered to arrange for an similarly ranked official to officially transfer the G20 presidency to the US at the foreign ministry. Officials had stated it would violate procedure for Ramaphosa to pass it to the US interim envoy.

South Africa’s top diplomat, Ronald Lamola, told reporters: “From us, the ball has moved. We are done. It’s up to them. Should they choose to engage, we are ready.”

Upcoming Gathering and Other Notable Non-Attendances

The 2026 conference is scheduled to take place at the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, which is owned by the Trump Organization.

Argentina, whose president Javier Milei skipped the summit, also refused to endorse the declaration. Its diplomatic chief, Pablo Quirno, said: “In particular, it deals with the longstanding Middle East conflict in a manner that does not fully reflect its full complexity.”

The G20 document read: “We will work for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Sudan and the DRC, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, as well as resolving additional disputes and wars around the globe.”

G20 Background

The G20 was established following the Asian financial crisis in 1999, with 19 nations and the European Union. The AU was incorporated last year.

The Russian leader Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Mexico's leader Claudia Sheinbaum were also not present at the meeting. Putin is wanted by the ICC, to which South Africa is a signatory. Xi has delegated attending many international gatherings this year to China’s prime minister, Li Qiang.