G20 summit hangs in the balance as US-South Africa tensions escalate

President Donald Trump has expressed doubts about the participation of the US delegation in the summit

- SIPHELELE DLUDLA

THE spectre of diplomatic strife between South Africa and the United States looms heavily over the upcoming Presidential G20 Summit to be held in Johannesburg later this year, particularly as the diplomatic tensions between the two countries continue to harden.

Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to express doubts about the participation of the US delegation in the summit.

While he described the G20 meeting as “very important”, Trump coupled this endorsement with unfounded allegations concerning violence against white farmers and land confiscation in South Africa.

The G20 membership not only boosts the national prestige of South Africa on the world stage but provides a useful platform for the government to coordinate global policy approaches on a wide range of issues.

Speaking exclusively to Business Report on Saturday, Michael Walsh, a senior fellow at a US think-tank the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said Trump was signalling that he valued the G20 as an important international forum for the US despite being not known for putting much value on international forums.

Walsh said South Africa's chosen themes for the G20 Presidency - solidarity, equality, and sustainability - had put it in “direct confrontation” with the Trump administration's strategic priorities.