WRAP | Why Ramaphosa will not attend the G7 Summit
In a surprise twist for South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa will not attend the 2026 Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Paris, France. French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that his country would invite Kenya instead, as part of a “streamlined” G7 Summit. Barrot denied that pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to withdraw Ramaphosa’s invitation to the gathering of the world’s largest economies in Evian, France, this June. The snub, however, will not go unnoticed in Pretoria. Minister Barrot officially confirmed, on behalf of President Macron, that Ramaphosa will not be invited to attend.
On Thursday, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed to Daily Maverick that France’s ambassador to South Africa (SA), David Martinon, had told the Presidency that Macron had been forced to withdraw Ramaphosa’s invitation, which was first reported by News24. “The reason we were given was that it was due to sustained pressure from the US, including a threat to boycott the G7 Summit,” Magwenya said. “Therefore, they couldn’t risk missing a key member of the G7, hence the withdrawal of their invitation, which President Macron personally extended to President Ramaphosa last year during the G20 summit here in Johannesburg.” Yet Barrot insisted: “We have not yielded to any pressure, but have made a choice consistent with our decision to hold a streamlined G7 focused on geo-economic issues.”
From the above extract, we learn that two contradictory messages are being conveyed. The first, from the South African government, is that President Macron faced pressure from President Trump to withdraw his invitation to President Ramaphosa. What type of pressure could the French government have faced? Was it a threat by Trump to boycott the Evian Summit if Ramaphosa attended? Yet the French themselves insist that no such threat was made. Instead, France withdrew Ramaphosa’s invitation to make space for Kenyan President William Ruto. This affair amounts to a diplomatic debacle. The main motive for Paris in rescinding Ramaphosa’s invitation appears to be avoiding Trump’s boycott. At present, France and much of Europe do not support the war the United States is fighting alongside Israel against Iran.
The hope in striking Pretoria from the guest list as an observer state, in favour of Nairobi at the last minute, seems intended to placate Trump. South Africa is on poor terms with the Trump administration due to its pursuit of the case against Israel for committing genocide during the Gaza war at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.
The US president has also criticised South Africa’s racial justice policies, enacted to address historic inequalities left by the legacy of colonial rule and apartheid but condemned by the American leader as discriminatory against whites. The Trump administration has additionally clashed with Ramaphosa’s government over South Africa taking Israel to the International Court of Justice for allegedly committing genocide in its war in Gaza. Since snubbing last year’s G20 summit, South Africa has been excluded from the work of the group, for which Washington holds the rotating presidency this year. It was during that G20 in South Africa that French President Emmanuel Macron personally invited Ramaphosa to take part in the G7, Pretoria recalled.
The Group of Seven industrialised nations often widens its work to other invited countries such as this year Brazil, India and South Korea. South Africa was invited in this way to the G7 organised by Canada in 2025. “This will have no impact on the strength and close nature of our bilateral relationship with France,” the presidency spokesperson said.
The G7 is comprised of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Italy. The Russian Federation lost its membership in the former G8 when it invaded Ukraine in 2014 and annexed Crimea. Trump, for his part, leads the largest economy in the group, with the strongest military (more or less). He is a deeply flawed leader and politician, despite his charisma. A firebrand figure of contradictions, Trump claims that the Ramaphosa government and the governing African National Congress (ANC) discriminate against whites, while ignoring the fact that it was Ramaphosa who invited the official opposition – the Democratic Alliance, led by a white man, John Steenhuisen – to form a government of national unity after the 2024 general elections.
South Africa is currently exercising patience in the face of diplomatic humiliations. The nation is walking a tightrope on which it must move with calm and focus. Ramaphosa had been offered an invitation by the French President to attend a key international summit hosted by a bloc of which South Africa is not a member. The withdrawal of that invitation at the behest of another member of the bloc was provocative. Diplomatically, Ramaphosa must remain serene and avoid taking personally the insults manufactured by the Trump administration. South Africa’s bilateral relations with the United States and France will outlast the Trump presidency and administration.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
