Lamola maintains there was no US boycott at G20 meeting

Lamola

Cape Town — Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola said the USA did not boycott the G20 meeting held in Johannesburg this past week.

The USA was represented by someone from the US Embassy in Pretoria and Lamola said the presence of a low-level US delegation does not mean a boycott. This comes after US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said he would not attend the meeting following the criticism and misunderstanding surrounding the Expropriation Act.

According to IOL, the two-day meeting featured various foreign ministers, including Russia’s Sergey Lavrov, but the USA did not have direct representation. Instead, Dana Brown from the US Embassy participated on behalf of South Africa.

“So, there was no boycott, they were here, participated and we appreciate their presence because they are full G20 members,” he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said Rubio’s absence from the meeting meant nothing and Lamola maintained that the presence of a low-level US representative meant the USA were at the meeting.

The minister also noted the tweet from the US national treasury Scott Bessent saying he will not attend the G20 finance meeting in Cape Town next week, citing obligations in Washington.

According to The Citizen, Lamola said the USA were full G20 members and they had a right to participate, even following the criticisms the US made of South Africa.
During the meeting, Lamola said the focus wa son sustainable priorities, including disaster resilience and debt sustainability for low-income countries.
The meeting emphasised the need for urgent action to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting the impact of conflicts on development and supporting South Africa’s proposed methods of managing geopolitical issues.
Dr Kashif Khan told Newzroom Afrika that Rubio’s absence from the meeting was more than the land expropriation, but instead about South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
“This is an attempt by Trump to deglobalise South Africa in pursuit of America’s policies and the globalisation I’m discussing, which began after the Cold War, and I believe Trump thinks that all globalisation-led institutions work on trade and transactions are not working in the interests of the USA,” Khan said.

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Compiled by Matthew Petersen

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