SA confirms it won’t attend G20 meeting in Washington

South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has not been accredited to attend the upcoming meeting of the Group of 20 finance chiefs in Washington, deepening a rift with the US.

Speaking to Bloomberg on Sunday at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, as he travelled to the US to take part in Spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, he said that neither himself nor South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago will be attending the G20 meeting.

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“We are members of the G20,” he said.

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“However, the US has not accredited us, which means that South Africa will not be part of the G20 for the whole of this year.”

US President Donald Trump, who has falsely claimed that South Africa is committing genocide against white Afrikaans people and seizing land without compensation, said in November that the country would not be invited to the G20 summit he will host later this year in Miami.

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The US took over the annual rotating presidency of the G20 from South Africa in late 2024 and it will next pass to the UK. The G20 traditionally meets on the sidelines of the bi-annual IMF and World Bank gatherings and on other occasions, as well as holding a heads-of-state summit.

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“We’ve taken a view that for us it is a holiday from the G20 this year,” Godongwana said.

“We’re beginning in November with the UK presidency.”

© 2026 Bloomberg

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