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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will no longer attend the G7 summit scheduled for June in the French town of Evian, after France withdrew its invitation under pressure from the United States, the presidency confirmed to AFP on Thursday.
In recent months, South Africa has come under sustained pressure from US President Donald Trump, with tensions spanning trade matters and issues around race relations.
“We’ve learnt that due to sustained pressure, France has had to withdraw its invitation to South Africa to attend the G7 meeting,” Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson to the president, told AFP.
“We are told that the Americans threatened to boycott the G7 if South Africa was invited,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has had several run-ins with the South African government. He imposed steep tariffs on the country, criticised Cyril Ramaphosa at the Oval Office over claims of a “white genocide” that have been widely dismissed, and stayed away from the G20 summit held in Johannesburg in November.
Last year, Trump introduced 30 percent tariffs on most South African exports — the highest level seen anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. The US Supreme Court has since struck down that tariff policy.
He has also taken aim at South Africa’s racial justice policies, which were put in place to deal with deep inequalities caused by colonial rule and apartheid, but which he described as unfair to white people.
Tensions have also grown over South Africa’s move to take US ally Israel to the International Court of Justice, accusing it of committing genocide in its war in Gaza.
At the G20 meeting in South Africa, French President Emmanuel Macron personally invited Ramaphosa to attend the G7 summit, according to officials in Pretoria.
The Group of Seven, which brings together leading industrialised countries, often invites other nations to join parts of its discussions.
“This will have no impact on the strength and close nature of our bilateral relationship with France,” the presidency spokesperson said.
“Notwithstanding all of these developments, South Africa remains committed to engage constructively with the US,” he said.
“The diplomatic relationship between USA and South Africa predate the Trump administration and they will outlive the current White House term of office.”
