International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola at the G20 Summit in Johannesburg on 22 November 2025. Picture: Supplied/GCIS South Africa does not seek the United States’ (US) approval for its path, but it will remain open to dialogue and a respectful partnership. This is what International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola said on Thursday in response to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s scathing post on South Africa.
But we do seek – and we will always extend – a hand of respectful partnership,” the minister said. This comes after Rubio criticised South Africa’s G20 Leaders’ Summit, the country and its policies in a post on Wednesday. The Secretary of State said President Donald Trump and the US will not extend an invitation to South Africa to participate in the G20 during its presidency.
“There is a place for good-faith disagreement, but not dishonesty or sabotage,” Rubio wrote. In his response, Lamola emphasised that South Africa is a founding member of the G20, and no single member has the unilateral right to exclude South Africa from the G20. Trump boycotted the G20 Summit held in South Africa in November, vowing that no official from the US would attend the international conference, which was the first to be held on African soil.
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He decided to send the chargé d’affaires at the US embassy in Pretoria to receive the symbolic seat on Trump’s behalf. However, South Africa handed over the presidency to a US Embassy official at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) in Pretoria.
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