President Ramaphosa says, ‘The United States needs to think again whether boycott politics actually works because in my experience it doesn’t work.’
Published On 13 Nov 2025
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says United States President Donald Trump’s decision to boycott the Group of 20 (G20) summit next weekend in Johannesburg is “their loss”.
The US has ratcheted up tensions with South Africa over widely rejected claims of persecution of white minority Afrikaners, which it vehemently denies, and its push for Israeli accountability over the genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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Speaking on Wednesday, Ramaphosa added: “The United States needs to think again whether boycott politics actually works because in my experience it doesn’t work.”
Trump on Friday said no US officials will attend this year’s G20 summit on November 22-23 of leaders from 19 of the world’s richest and leading developing economies, the European Union and African Union. Trump cited South Africa’s treatment of white farmers, which he has falsely labelled a “genocide”, writing on his Truth Social platform that it was a “total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa”.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly claimed that white South Africans are being violently persecuted and having their land taken from them because of their race in the Black-majority country, a claim rejected by South Africa’s government and top Afrikaner officials.
Trump for months has targeted the nation’s Black-led government for criticism over that and a range of other issues, including its decision to accuse staunch US ally Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in an ongoing case at the ICJ in The Hague.
Last month, Ramaphosa said the current Gaza ceasefire, which Israel is violating on a daily basis, will not affect his country’s genocide case against Israel, stressing that South Africa is determined to pursue its case, filed in 2023, despite the truce, which is part of a US-backed plan aimed at ending Israel’s war on the besieged and bombarded territory.
South Africa submitted 500 pages of evidence to the ICJ in October 2024. Israel’s