JOHANNESBURG - Tensions between South Africa and the United States are flaring up once again.
US President Donald Trump has declared that South Africa will not be invited to next year’s G20 Leaders’ Summit.
This comes just days after the Johannesburg gathering -- which the US boycotted -- wrapped up.
This time, President Cyril Ramaphosa is pushing back, insisting South Africa will not be insulted. He reminded Trump that the country is a full G20 member at the invitation of all other member states.
The Presidency says Trump’s stance is deeply regrettable, especially after efforts to reset relations with Washington.
Geopolitical analyst Dr Terence McNamee, a Senior Fellow at the Montreal Institute for Global Security, says one small mercy for South Africa is that Trump’s attacks on countries seem to have a diminishing impact over time.
He says the administration was clearly looking for a pretext to punish South Africa, but what’s striking now is Ramaphosa’s tone.
McNamee believes the president may feel the relationship is no longer salvageable -- that while ties with the US are important, they are not irreplaceable.
According to McNamee, it appears that both the Presidency and DIRCO have, for now, effectively “thrown in the towel” on repairing the relationship.
He argues that Ramaphosa and DIRCO miscalculated by turning the handover issue into a major diplomatic flashpoint.
He notes there was no strict legal or technical requirement for the handover to happen in the way government claimed.
McNamee says South Africa could have risen above the moment, leaving only one country looking bad, and that would not have been South Africa.
“The situation would have told its own story,” he suggests.
Looking ahead, he says historic moments are fleeting and the world is already moving on.
Other countries -- including the United States -- have drawn a line in the sand.
McNamee questions whether other nations are truly prepared to rally behind South Africa, saying one of the key lessons of the past ten months is that, when dealing with a Trump administration, “you are mostly on your own.”
He also points out that the G20 has no legal personality under international law, and says the saga has raised serious questions about the forum’s role and relevance going forward.