The South African government and the ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Sunday condemned US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would boycott the upcoming G20 Summit in Johannesburg, calling it an act of “imperialist interference.”
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula criticised both Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who echoed Trump’s claims, calling their statements “false.”
Trump announced on Friday that no US representative would attend the summit, which South Africa is hosting before handing over the annual G20 presidency to the US.
Trump said his decision was driven by alleged persecution of white Afrikaner farmers in South Africa — an allegation repeatedly denied by both the South African government and white community leaders.
“It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa. Afrikaners are being killed and slaughtered and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated. No US government official will attend as long as these human rights abuses continue,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Rubio, supporting Trump’s stance, wrote on X: “Afrikaners have been continuously subjected to violent racial discrimination by the South African government. I applaud (Trump’s) decision to not waste taxpayer dollars sending our diplomats to the G20 while this heinous violence continues.”
Mbalula dismissed both leaders’ statements, saying, “This is a blatant lie. There is no racial discrimination happening in South Africa. South Africa’s laws seek to redress imbalances created by apartheid, which was declared by the UN as a crime against humanity, particularly against black people. We don’t take kindly to imperialist flirtations.”
He reaffirmed that the summit would go ahead as planned despite the US withdrawal. “We will host a successful G20 Summit with or without the US. We are a constitutional and democratic state that believes in fair trade relations, not in the dominance of superpowers,” Mbalula said.
“Our country must go ahead, and the G20 will take place without (the US). It’s unfortunate that they’ve stirred up things which, in our view as the ANC, borders on imperialism. We are an anti-imperialist organisation,” he added.
Mbalula further accused Trump of undermining South Africa’s sovereignty and misrepresenting its democratic values.
“We reject Donald Trump’s assertions and fabrications. Trump’s administration has got no regard for our sovereignty. They think that we are a sub-country of the US, which is very unfortunate on their part,” he said.
Echoing Mbalula’s remarks, South African Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Ronald Lamola described the US claims as “baseless and politically motivated.”
“Claims of a ‘white genocide’ or its euphemism, Afrikaner persecution, are imagined and used for political expediency,” Lamola said, citing police data that farm crimes affect both black and white South Africans.
“From April 2020 to March 2024, 225 people were victims of crime on farms in South Africa. Many of the victims, 101 (of which) were current or former farmworkers who are mostly black. Fifty-three of the victims were farmers, mostly white,” he added.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation also issued a statement calling Trump’s assertions an “ahistorical” portrayal of Afrikaners as an exclusively white community.
“The claim that this community faces persecution is not substantiated by fact. Our position on this matter remains consistent with our previous statements,” the department said.
Analysts noted that relations between South Africa and the US — one of its key trading partners — have worsened since Trump previously offered political asylum to some white South African farmers and imposed tariffs on South African goods, harming the country’s economy.
With just two weeks before the G20 Summit, which is expected to host world leaders, there are growing concerns that other nations aligned with Trump might also withdraw from the meeting.