In a significant diplomatic move, South Africa, a founding member of the G20, has not been invited to the forum’s crucial sherpas meeting scheduled for December 15-16, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The exclusion marks the first concrete action under the new U.S. G20 presidency, which began on December 1, 2025, and follows what analysts describe as anticipated hostility from the American administration.
The sherpa meetings are where the substantive agenda-setting and negotiation for the annual G20 leaders’ summit takes place. South Africa’s absence means it will have no direct input on the communiqués or priorities for the upcoming summit the U.S. will host following its 2026 midterm elections.
Professor Christopher Isike, Director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States at the University of Pretoria, characterized the development as “very unusual” and significant. He stated that the exclusion prevents South Africa from shaping the agenda, influencing decisions, or advancing key initiatives from its own recent G20 presidency, such as those on climate finance, debt restructuring, and equitable vaccine access.
“It is not good for South Africa but also not good for the U.S. in many ways,” Isike said, pointing to the contrast with recent praise for Pretoria from leaders of France, India, and the UK during the Johannesburg summit. Those nations had lauded South Africa for championing Global South interests.
The professor linked the move directly to U.S. dissatisfaction with South Africa’s independent foreign policy. “What the US is really trying to do here is to express its unhappiness,” he said, adding that it serves as a signal to the African continent that divergence from a U.S.-aligned stance could result in marginalization. He warned the U.S. strategy could be to “cherrypick African countries” to foster division.
With the U.S. presidency expected to oppose many of South Africa’s flagship G20 issues, Isike suggested the country should now refocus its diplomatic energies on the 2027 summit under the United Kingdom’s presidency, which aligns more closely with Pretoria’s multilateral ideals.
He called for a robust continental response, urging the African Union (AU) to demonstrate solidarity. “It is in [the AU’s] best interest to quickly come together and also begin to signal back to the United States,” Isike said, suggesting a collective boycott could be considered if South Africa is sidelined. He emphasized leveraging Africa’s collective economic power, including critical minerals and the African Continental Free Trade Area, as diplomatic leverage.
South African authorities had reportedly anticipated such friction under the new U.S. administration. The country is now expected to channel its efforts toward the 2027 UK summit. Professor Isike noted that the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, likely to dominate the news cycle, will also overshadow the G20 process and could curb the current administration’s ability to implement a wholesale shift in the forum’s direction.
As of the latest reports, the African Union has not yet issued an official statement on South Africa’s exclusion from the Washington sherpas meeting.