As a member of the G20, the country should be able to participate in all official meetings of the group. This, at least, is France's position, expressed this Tuesday by its ambassador, David Martinon.
This statement comes after a controversial decision by US President Donald Trump, who excluded South Africa from a G20 summit being held at his club in Florida.
At the same time, Pretoria was also not invited to the next G7 summit, scheduled for June in France. Tensions surrounding the G20 presidency in 2025, as well as accusations of violence targeting white South African farmers, have also arisen. These accusations have been firmly rejected by the South African government, which denounces them as a "punitive measure" based on erroneous information.
In Johannesburg, the French ambassador was keen to clarify Paris's position : for France, South Africa remains a full member of the G20 and must play its full role. Regarding the G7, France denies any American pressure. It maintains that it simply chose to invite Kenya, in a deliberately smaller format. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, for his part, reacted ironically: "You can't be disinvited from a forum to which you don't belong."
