Simon Nare
The South African government will not lobby other G20 countries to boycott US-hosted activities, including the Leaders’ Summit, but will instead persuade fellow members to ensure that priorities raised and adopted during its presidency are carried forward.
The stance follows President Donald Trump’s decision to block South Africa’s participation in the 2026 G20, which the US will host, amid a fresh flare-up in tensions between the two nations. Trump has accused Pretoria of pursuing “anti-American” policies and aligning with anti-American international allies.
Presidency spokesman Vincent Magwenya told reporters in Tshwane on Monday that South Africa would channel its energies into ensuring that issues such as inequality, poverty alleviation and climate change continue to find expression in future G20 meetings.
He said these priorities were not only critical to South Africa and the African continent, but to the global community, and could not be confined to one G20 cycle. The government was also engaging G7 members to ensure the same issues gained traction in that forum.
Magwenya said some G20 members South Africa had engaged since being blocked from the next G20 meetings had expressed strong opposition to the US decision. He added that Trump had acted unilaterally within an organisation that operates on consensus.
“We have strongly accepted that we don’t need to be invited to the G20 meetings, we are a full member of the G20, we are a founding member of the G20. Secondly, what the US is seeking to do is an affront to multilateralism, and it must be challenged and it must be rejected by all members of the G20.
“What we are not going to do, which is not going to be helpful, we are not going to ask countries to boycott G20 meetings and G20 processes. We were against boycott, we will not promote any form of boycott,” said Magwenya.
He also addressed the matter of South Africans allegedly trapped in the Russia-Ukraine war after being duped, reportedly by former uMkhonto weSizwe MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former president Jacob Zuma, and others.
He said the matter was receiving top priority and that the government was engaging Russian authorities to secure their release.
Speaking about the Madlanga Commission preliminary report, Magwenya confirmed that it would be released this week, but would not be made public. The final report would be available to the public, he said.
Turning to Communications Minister Solly Malatsi’s gazetted directives to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa to accelerate licensing for service providers, Magwenya defended the minister, saying his actions were lawful.
Malatsi has faced criticism from several political parties, including ANC MPs, who accused him of overreach and of attempting to amend legislation outside of Parliament.
Magwenya rejected those claims and cautioned against an undue focus on South African-born businessman Elon Musk’s Starlink.
“There are four or five companies that have expressed [wanting] to provide their services in South Africa, it’s not only Starlink. What the minister is doing is within the law, we must emphasise. It’s to look at what can be done to accelerate those processes.
“As you know the law is quite clear with respect to the local ownership element for those seeking to be licensed as telecommunication network providers and so, that’s what the minister is doing,” he said.
He added that the president was fully aware of Malatsi’s actions, but would not support any steps that fall outside the law.
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