News24 | Ramaphosa to address the nation following ‘successful’ G20 summit

President Cyril Ramaphosa successfully led South Africa’s G20 presidency, earning praise for a seamless summit, despite domestic and international challenges.

President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation tonight following South Africa’s hosting of the G20 Leaders’ Summit last weekend.

This is according to a short statement issued by the Presidency on Sunday.

Presidency spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said Ramaphosa would address the nation at 19:00, following a “successful hosting of the leaders’ summit”.

News24 reported on Monday that Ramaphosa had emerged from the G20 Leaders’ Summit with a profound sense of “relief and satisfaction”.

His success in overseeing the high-stakes global gathering marked a significant milestone for South Africa’s leadership on the international stage. After hosting world leaders at the Nasrec expo centre in Johannesburg, Magwenya described Ramaphosa’s mood as “upbeat”.

“The president is relieved and particularly pleased that the summit proceeded smoothly, as planned, and satisfied that South Africa succeeded in delivering on the priorities it laid out at the onset of its G20 presidency,” Magwenya told News24 at the time.

READ | US-SA showdown: Trump needs G20 members’ consensus to bar South Africa

On the eve of the summit, US President Donald Trump’s administration publicly rejected the adoption of the leaders’ declaration and again spread untruths about “bad things happening” in South Africa.

Despite this, Ramaphosa brought the summit to a close with several leaders praising him for successfully organising it.

However, on Wednesday, Trump announced via his Truth Social platform that South Africa would not be invited to the next summit, accusing the government of neglecting human rights and targeting Afrikaners – a claim South African leaders have repeatedly dismissed as unfounded.

From 1 December, the US holds the G20 presidency, and the US has announced that the Leaders’ Summit will be held in Miami, Florida, next year.

Trump will have to get the backing of other G20 members to bar South Africa from participating next year, and News24 again reported this week that several countries, including Japan and Germany, have come out in support of South Africa and are committed to reaching out to Trump following his latest stunt.