By Simon Nare
President Cyril Ramaphosa has downplayed the non-attendance of US senior leaders at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, which got underway in Johannesburg on Thursday.
He stressed that their decision should not imply that the meeting was less important or “diluted”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was initially scheduled to attend the first G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, but he did an about-turn on X over South Africa’s Expropriation Act. This was after US President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order to pull funds from South Africa over its new law on land.
Ramaphosa told reporters following the opening of the meeting that he had also been told that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would not attend due to obligations to his country.
The withdrawals come amid tensions between the Trump administration and the South African government. Trump has also threatened not to attend the G20 Summit in
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