President Cyril Ramaphosa receiving the Letter of Credence from Germany’s Ambassador to South Africa, Andreas Peschke, during a ceremony in October 2021. German ambassador to South Africa, Andreas Peschke, says Berlin is actively engaging the United States following announcements that the incoming G20 rotational president will bar South African representatives from next year’s summit in Miami. IOL reported earlier this month that South Africa has not been invited to the upcoming G20 Sherpas meetingscheduled for 15 and 16 December 2025 in Washington.
The exclusion was confirmed after the United States extended invitations to all other G20 member nations. US President Donald Trump has also publicly stated that South Africa will not be invited to next year’s leaders’ summit, which he plans to host at his golf resort in Miami. President Cyril Ramaphosa has maintained that South Africa will not lobby any nation to boycott the summit despite the snub.
“The United States has said that South Africa will not be invited. We have not seen that in writing yet. We’ve only seen media reports.
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We are yet to receive anything formally, and we will deal with that when it comes,” Ramaphosa said. Speaking tobroadcaster Newzroom Afrika, Peschke said South Africa’s exclusion — despite having hosted a successful G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg this year — was a matter of concern for Berlin. “There are two issues, one is about the composition of the G20, we are discussing that, and the other one is about the situation in the country.
About the G20, I would say our Chancellor (Friedrich Merz)came out loud and clear, that we think South Africa is an important actor at an important forum like the G20. “We think South Africa needs to be at the table and we are gonna take it up with the incoming presidency. This is about South Africa.
We think it ran a very successful presidency this year. But it actually goes beyond South Africa because South Africa is the only African representative around the table and so we are talking about a continent of 1.5 billion people.” Peschke stressed that Africa must be represented at such an important global forum. Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, right, being welcomed to South Africa by Pieter Groenewald, Minister of Correctional Services Responding to claims raised in the US political discourse, Peschke said South Africa, like all nations, faces challenges, but warned against amplifying false narratives.
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