South African president backtracks on US role in G7 summit snub

South Africa walked back its claim that US pressure led to its disinvitation from an upcoming Group of Seven summit in France. Pretoria’s presidency spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, had said on Thursday afternoon that an invitation to attend the meeting scheduled to take place from June 15-17 had been withdrawn because of “sustained pressure” from Washington. Hours later, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the country hadn’t been snubbed.

“My information is that there has been no pressure from any country, the US or any other country,” Ramaphosa said in remarks aired by Johannesburg-based broadcaster eNCA. “We haven’t attended every G7, so if we don’t go to this one it should never be a surprise to anyone.” Magwenya didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent by text message on Friday morning. The US State Department said it hadn’t requested that South Africa be shut out of the G7 meeting.

“We have not asked the French to exclude South Africa from the G7 summit,” Nick Checker, who heads the State Department’s Bureau for African Affairs, said in an emailed response to a request for comment. The South African presidency’s initial statement suggested a new flashpoint in already strained ties with the US. Relations have deteriorated sharply since Donald Trump’s return to the White House last year, with the US president falsely accusing Pretoria of subjecting White farmers to a genocide and seizing their land, denouncing its relations with Iran, and rejecting its Black economic-empowerment policies.

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Cyril Ramaphosa says there has been no sustained pressure from the United States, dismissing claims of influence following South Africa’s removal from the G7 summit in France. He adds that the move should not be seen as a snub, noting the country has not attended every G7 summit…pic.twitter.com/eQCUueqXh2 Last year, Trump boycotted a G20 summit that Ramaphosa hosted in Johannesburg, and said South African officials won’t be invited to attend this year’s meeting in Miami. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Kenya, rather than South Africa, had been invited to the G7 meeting.

Kenya and France are scheduled to co-host the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi on May 11-12. “We did not give in to any pressure,” Barrot was quoted as saying by Agence-France Presse. “We made a choice consistent with our decision to hold a streamlined G7 focused on geo-economic issues.” WATCH | President Cyril Ramaphosa says it should not be a surprise if they don’t attend the upcoming G7 summit in France, as they are not a member.pic.twitter.com/9YNEgTh5Ih

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