The SA government has a lot on its to-do list ahead of this week’s G20 Leaders' Summit.
The South African government is juggling multiple issues ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit this weekend, including the United States’ (US) boycott of the summit.
The summit will be held in Johannesburg on Saturday, 22 November and Sunday, 23 November. The city of Johannesburg has been hard at work cleaning streets, enforcing bylaws, and fixing infrastructure ahead of the event.
Their efforts have already been hindered by vandalism and threats of strikes from unions.
But among the most-talked-about issues surrounding the summit is US President Donald Trump’s decision to boycott the event.
Other heads of state will also not be in attendance at the summit, including those from Argentina, Russia, and China. However, these will all send delegations, while the US will not.
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No US to take the baton at G20
The boycott means the US will not symbolically take over the baton of leadership of the group from South Africa, with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa joking that he may have to hand over the reins to an empty chair.
“Trump has decided not to come, and he’s pulled out all the US representatives. But we have said that boycotts in politics never work. If you boycott an event or a process, you… [lose] because the show will go on.
“I have said in the past, I don’t want to hand over to an empty chair, but the empty chair will be there. [We will] probably symbolically hand over to that empty chair and then talk to President Trump,” Ramaphosa said.
He earlier said their absence was “their loss”.
“In many ways, the United States is also giving up the very important role that it should be playing as the biggest economy in the world,” he added.
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