Any change to the group’s membership requires consensus among all members, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said
BRICS countries have rejected any arbitrary attempt by the US to exclude South Africa from the G20, reaffirming its status as a founding and full member of the group.
The US, which holds this year’s G20 presidency, has barred South Africa from the group’s meetings and has not invited it to the leaders’ summit in Miami in December.
In a declaration adopted at their summit in New Delhi on Saturday, BRICS leaders described any arbitrary revision of the G20’s membership as “inadmissible.” The declaration said any membership change requires the consensus of all G20 members and should reflect geographical balance and the growing economic weight of the Global South.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said the statement addressed the “unilateral, politically motivated attempts” to sideline South Africa, African Initiative reported.
US President Donald Trump announced the exclusion of South Africa after boycotting the G20 summit in Johannesburg last November. He accused the South African government of mistreating the country’s white minority and unlawfully confiscating land – allegations which Pretoria has denied.
Relations between the two countries have been strained over South Africa’s land reform policies, its alleged close ties with Russia and China, and its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Washington suspended aid to Pretoria last year and established a program to resettle Afrikaners and other members of South Africa’s white minority as refugees in the US.
The Trump administration also imposed a 30% tariff on most South African imports. Pretoria has made several efforts to secure a reduction, including submitting a revised trade proposal, but the talks have produced no negotiated tariff relief, and Washington has since increased pressure on the country.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new visa restrictions targeting South African officials and other foreign nationals who the administration accuses of enacting or enabling “race-based discrimination”, “uncompensated land seizures”, and incitement to violence against minority groups.
Pretoria condemned the measure as a unilateral act based on a misrepresentation of its domestic policies. “It is our sovereign right to put in place laws that address the nation’s concern over centuries of racial injustice,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
