‘Let’s not talk of problems that are non-existent’: German taking up South Africa’s exclusion from G20 summit in US
President Cyril Ramaphosa receiving the Letter of Credence from Germany’s Ambassador to South Africa, Andreas Peschke, during a ceremony in October 2021.
Image: Presidency
German ambassador to South Africa, Andreas Peschke, says Berlin is actively engaging the United States following announcements that the incoming G20 rotational president will bar South African representatives from next year’s summit in Miami.
IOL reported earlier this month that South Africa has not been invited to the upcoming G20 Sherpas meeting scheduled for 15 and 16 December 2025 in Washington. The exclusion was confirmed after the United States extended invitations to all other G20 member nations.
US President Donald Trump
Image: Jim Watson / AFP
US President Donald Trump has also publicly stated that South Africa will not be invited to next year’s leaders’ summit, which he plans to host at his golf resort in Miami.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has maintained that South Africa will not lobby any nation to boycott the summit despite the snub.
“The United States has said that South Africa will not be invited. We have not seen that in writing yet. We've only seen media reports. We are yet to receive anything formally, and we will deal with that when it comes,” Ramaphosa said.
‘South Africa needs to be at the table’ – Germany
Speaking to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, Peschke said South Africa’s exclusion — despite having hosted a successful G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg this year — was a matter of concern for Berlin.
“There are two issues, one is about the composition of the G20, we are discussing that, and the other one is about the situation in the country. About the G20, I would say our Chancellor (Friedrich Merz) came out loud and clear, that we think South Africa is an important actor at an important forum like the G20.
“We think South Africa needs to be at the table and we are gonna take it up with the incoming presidency. This is about South Africa. We think it ran a very successful presidency this year. But it actually goes beyond South Africa because South Africa is the only African representative around the table and so we are talking about a continent of 1.5 billion people.”
Peschke stressed that Africa must be represented at such an important global forum.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, right, being welcomed to South Africa by Pieter Groenewald, Minister of Correctional Services
Image: File/ GCIS
Germany on narratives about South Africa
Responding to claims raised in the US political discourse, Peschke said South Africa, like all nations, faces challenges, but warned against amplifying false narratives.
“We followed the murder of Marius van der Merwe two days ago, so there are issues which we need to follow up, but on that one (issue) raised by some in America, let me just give you an example. Recently, I attended a German Oktoberfest in Pretoria. We had in two days, 15,000 people, lots of Germans and South Africans from all walks of life, all groups of the population.
“We had two days of a very good time, also lots of fun, lots of Eisbein, lots of beer, but no repression and persecution. Probably that is not the problem we are talking about. Our take would be, I am not a South Africa politician. I am here as a diplomat but our take would be, as partners we should try and tackle those problems that exist, like unemployment, creating jobs rather than talking about problems that are nonexistent.”
DIRCO dismisses ‘white genocide’ narratives
In November, IOL reported that Trump announced no US government officials would attend the recent G20 summit in Johannesburg, accusing South Africa of “human rights abuses” and alleging that white Afrikaners are being “killed and slaughtered” and their farms “illegally confiscated”.
Trump wrote on Truth Social: “It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa. Afrikaners, people who are descended from Dutch, and also French, and German settlers, 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. I look forward to hosting the 2026 G20 in Miami, Florida!”
The remarks drew global attention and followed prolonged tensions between Washington and Pretoria over the US government’s Afrikaner resettlement programme — a scheme the South African government has described as baseless.
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola
Image: G20 South Africa/ X
Dirco rejected what it called “false and misleading narratives” about conditions faced by white South Africans.
“The claim of a so-called ‘white genocide’ in South Africa was widely discredited and unsupported by reliable evidence,” the department said in a statement published by IOL. It added that South Africa “remains a constitutional democracy that upholds the rule of law and protects the rights of all its citizens”.
Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola, told IOL in a separate report: “We refute that these individuals are persecuted on the grounds of race or language. The idea that a particular race is being targeted on crime is also not founded on any evidence.”
Lamola has previously told IOL that “this claim of persecution is simply not factual” and that “white farmers are affected by crime like any other South Africans”.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
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