Pretoria will need the backing of the media in the US and countries that have Trump’s ear to champion its case.
After hosting a successful G20 summit, the first on African soil, South Africa should be looking forward to the 2026 Group of 20 event in the United States.
Instead, it’s facing the prospect of being excluded because US President Donald Trump has decreed that the country will not be welcome.
While Trump has used the claims of alleged white genocide for his antipathy towards this country, there are suspicions that Pretoria’s decision to take Israel to the International Court of Justice over Palestine also played a role.
Either way, Trump has announced that South Africa will not be invited to the G20 summit in Miami, Florida, next year.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has pointed out that, as a founding member of the G20 family, South Africa does not need an invitation.
That may be so, but the reality is that the US can put up all kinds of impediments, including refusing to grant visas to the South African delegates.
Indications are that Pretoria will be leaning on its friends in the G20, especially India, China, Russia and Brazil, and Western countries like France and Britain, to lobby on its behalf. India and Brazil are out of favour with Trump and unlikely to influence his thinking.
China and Russia may hold some sway – Beijing because of trade negotiations and Moscow because Washington is desperate for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.
But whether they can convince Trump to soften his stance against SA is unclear. South Africa needs to do some fancy diplomatic footwork, including behind-the-scenes lobbying of influential, sympathetic US politicians and business people to put pressure on Trump.
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Crucially, Pretoria will need the backing of the media in the US and countries that have Trump’s ear to champion Pretoria’s case.
As controversy sells, SA is bound to get a lot of coverage due to its spat with Trump over participation in the summit.
But the trick for Pretoria will be to turn the media attention from controversial to positive and sympathetic.
South Africa can take a leaf out of India’s book, which demonstrated its media savvy during the G20 summit in Johannesburg in November, where the US received the lion’s share of media attention for “boycotting” the event.
China, Russia, Mexico and Argentina also generated some news as they were the other three member states not represented at head-of-state or head-of-government level.
Yet, it was India, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which garnered the most significant coverage.
Modi’s presence in SA and contributions to the summit made positive headlines in the host country and India.
There was nothing sensational, just a sober, factual and timely release of information relating to Modi’s presence in Johannesburg that garnered the kind of publicity that every head of state salivates over.
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His movements, presence and contributions were captured in reams of news articles, television coverage and social media platforms, including X, Instagram, and brief, but catchy, YouTube clips.
From the moment that Modi set foot in this country, there was almost rolling coverage of his presence at the summit.
Such was the hype that MyGov, a citizen engagement platform of the Indian government, proclaimed in an Instagram post: “PM Modi steals the show at G20 summit.”
And senior SA journalist Ndaedzo Nethonzhe declared on X: “The Indian prime minister’s media team is top-notch. It has been exceptional in promoting Modi’s G20 trip.”
Ramaphosa and South Africa’s media and PR team face a much harder task and they will have to start garnering media support as early as now to counter Trump’s propaganda.
They have to send a clear message, using every conceivable media platform and influential political and corporate voices inside and outside SA, to prove that the myth of white genocide is just that – a myth.
SA has to convince the world that excluding it bodes ill for the G20’s future and that SA has an inalienable right to be part of the G20. And like
Modi, Ramaphosa must use every channel to get across the message that SA’s participation is crucial.
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