The US secretary of state says he will not waste taxpayer money or “coddle anti-Americanism”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he will not attend a meeting of the G20 group in South Africa later this month because Pretoria is “doing very bad things.”
The decision by the top American diplomat on Wednesday comes amid US President Donald Trump’s feud with the African country’s government over a new land ownership reform.
South Africa will host the G20 foreign ministers’ summit in Johannesburg on February 20-21. Last December, Pretoria officially assumed the rotating presidency of the intergovernmental forum, which it will hand over to the US in November 2025.
In a speech during the launch of Pretoria’s chairmanship in Cape Town, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the group of 20 major economies has enough “shock absorbers” in place against an ‘America First’ policy by the Trump administration.
Ramaphosa promised to advance Africa and the Global South’s development priorities, including addressing the impacts of climate change. However, Trump has repeatedly opposed international cooperation on climate issues. Ramaphosa also announced that he has invited Trump to South Africa for a state visit and to the G20 summit in late 2025, where the US leader will take on the chairmanship role.
“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,” Rubio wrote on X.
“My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism,” he added.
In response, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said on Thursday that Pretoria’s “G20 Presidency, is not confined to just climate change but also equitable treatment for nations of the Global South, ensuring equal global system for all.”
President Trump said on Sunday that he is halting funding to South Africa, accusing the country’s government of “confiscating” land and “treating certain classes of people very badly.” The US leader declared that Washington “won’t stand” for Pretoria’s “massive human rights violation.”
The threat followed the passage of the Expropriation Act by Pretoria aimed at addressing racial disparities in land ownership, a long-standing issue in Africa’s most advanced economy since Apartheid ended in 1994. The government has set a target of transferring 30% of farmland from white farmers, who still own the majority of it, to their black counterparts by 2030.
President Ramaphosa has defended the reform, saying his government “has not confiscated any land.”
Foreign Minister Lamola also denied the US allegations on Thursday, stating that “there is no arbitrary dispossession of land” or private property under the new legislation.
“This law is similar to the eminent domain laws,” he said, referring to US legislation that authorizes the federal government to acquire property for public use.
On Monday, Ramaphosa’s office said he spoke with Trump’s close ally, South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, to clarify “issues of misinformation and distortions” after he also accused Pretoria of having “openly racist ownership laws.”
