US agencies banned from working on SA G20 Summit – report

Just days before President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to arrive in Washington on a working visit that includes a high-level meeting with US President Donald Trump on 21 May, top US newspaper the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the White House National Security Council has banned “US agencies from all work on the G20 in South Africa”.

While the White House and US State Department are yet to officially confirm the move, the news will pile pressure on Ramaphosa in a make-or-break meeting as relations between SA and the Trump administration hit a new low.

ALSO READ: Trump threatens not to come to SA for G20 meeting and the ‘reason’ won’t surprise you

SA is set to host the G20 Summit of leaders from the world’s biggest economies in Johannesburg in November. There are dozens of run-up G20 events planned locally and abroad ahead of the main summit.

However, both Trump and his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, have threatened to boycott the main event, claiming a “white genocide” against the Afrikaner community in SA and lambasting land expropriation laws. Rubio has already snubbed a G20 run-up event that took place in Cape Town earlier this year.

ALSO READ: Trump-Ramaphosa meeting seen as key to easing tensions

‘Suspend work’ 

“The White House National Security Council has ordered US agencies and departments to suspend work with the Group of 20 conference set to be hosted by South Africa this year, according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a government decision not yet made public,” reads the Washington Post report.

On Monday, Trump again accused SA of “white genocide,” saying he won’t attend the G20 Summit unless the “situation is taken care of”.

Trump’s latest broadside against SA came in the same week as the first batch of 49 white “SA refugees” left the country to settle in the US under a Trump administration initiative.

Ramaphosa and the SA government have vehemently denied the “white genocide” claims and say Trump has been misinformed about the country’s updated land expropriation laws.

ALSO READ: Trump sends junior officials to G20 as global alliances shift

However, SA has been thrown into the global limelight this week, with the “white refugees” story making international news.

Ramaphosa’s trip to the US next week will arguably be his toughest international statesmanship test yet, and he will be keen to convince Trump to come to the G20 gathering, which will be hosted in SA for the first time.

After SA, the US will be the next host of the G20 meet in 2026. The US is the only G20 member threatening to boycott the event currently, but political analysts have been saying that if the US does not attend, it will put China in a stronger position at the SA summit – especially amid global US tariffs and trade war threats.

This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.