South Africa Demands “Equal” Treatment From Trump After G20 Exclusion | Firstpost Africa | N18G

South Africa Demands “Equal” Treatment From Trump After G20 Exclusion | Firstpost Africa | N18G



Tensions between South Africa and the US are rising, with President Cyril Ramaphosa rejecting Trump’s threat to exclude South Africa from the G20, asserting equal treatment as a foundational member. The US, holding the G20 presidency, has barred Pretoria from events, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemning South Africa’s policies towards Afrikaners. South Africa’s Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola defended their initiatives against apartheid-era inequalities, emphasizing a desire for respectful partnership. President Ramaphosa dismissed allegations of racism and genocide against Afrikaners as false. The diplomatic standoff highlights strained US-South Africa relations, impacting critical aid and cooperation, with the UK expected to mediate in future tensions.

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20 thoughts on “South Africa Demands “Equal” Treatment From Trump After G20 Exclusion | Firstpost Africa | N18G

  1. Trump is the one who is a vengeful racist for that matter,repeating these lies again and again.We know these tactics Donald,its what the West has been using in Africa,causing tension like whats going in DRC,Somalia,Sudan etc

  2. I simply don't understand why President Ramaphosa is trying to reason with an unreasonable, racist criminal, accused rapist and pedo like Donald J Trump 🙄 This makes President Ramaphosa look like a begging fool. That's the very reason South Africans need to vote 🗳 for a young President like Malema. It's ashamed Cyril Ramaphosa is acting like a child begging his daddy to let him come someplace. I'm an American who frequently visits and love South Africa 🇿🇦. Please stop begging and pleading with this current so-called Donald Trump administration. It makes South Africans look extremely weak.

  3. People defending the current SA president after his Trump response need to confront facts, not vibes.
    This isn’t about personalities — it’s about outcomes after 30 years of ANC rule:

    • Unemployment: ~33% overall. Youth unemployment ~60%. That’s one of the worst in the world.
    • Economic growth: GDP per person is lower today than it was in 2007. That’s nearly two lost decades.
    • Electricity: Load-shedding didn’t exist at scale pre-2008. Under the ANC it became so bad it cut national growth by ~1–2% per year at its worst.
    • State capture & corruption: Tens of billions stolen through Eskom, Transnet, Prasa and procurement fraud. This isn’t opinion — it’s court-documented.
    • Poverty & inequality: SA remains one of the most unequal countries on Earth, despite 30 years of “transformation” rhetoric.
    • Infrastructure collapse: Ports, rail, water systems, roads — all in measurable decline vs the early 2000s.
    • Violent crime: Among the highest murder and violent crime rates globally.

    And politically?
    For the first time since 1994, the ANC lost its national majority in 2024. That alone tells you what ordinary South Africans think of the results.

    You can defend the president’s tone toward Trump if you like — but you cannot defend 30 years of collapsing services, lost growth, mass unemployment, and state-capture corruption.

    This is not a sanctions problem.
    Not a colonialism problem.
    Not a Trump problem.

    It’s a governance problem.

    If the ANC wants respect on the world stage, it has to first deliver at home.

  4. The ANC did not inherit a failed state—it created one. What was once a functioning country in need of reform has been reduced to a struggling society where survival increasingly depends on private solutions rather than public systems. The damage was not inevitable, and it was not caused by external forces. It was the direct result of choices made by those in power.

    This is why…

    South Africa entered 1994 as a fully functional state with working institutions, stable infrastructure, and an economy that—while deeply unjust and in need of reform—was operational and internationally integrated. Since taking power, the African National Congress (ANC) has presided over a steady and measurable decline across nearly every pillar of the state.
    Institutional collapse
    Independent institutions that once ensured accountability have been weakened or captured. Cadre deployment replaced merit-based appointments, placing political loyalty above competence. This hollowed out the civil service, municipalities, and state-owned enterprises, leaving them unable to perform basic functions.
    Economic mismanagement
    South Africa shifted from a growing, industrialising economy to one marked by stagnation, debt, and mass unemployment. Investor confidence collapsed due to policy uncertainty, corruption, and hostility toward business. Power shortages, rail failures, and port inefficiencies—entirely self-inflicted—crippled productivity and exports.
    State-owned enterprise failure
    Entities such as Eskom, Transnet, SAA, and others were systematically looted or mismanaged. Instead of being engines of growth, they became financial black holes requiring endless bailouts, draining public funds that should have gone to healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
    Corruption and state capture
    Under ANC governance, corruption became systemic. State capture was not an accident but a consequence of governance choices. Billions were lost through procurement fraud, kickbacks, and criminal networks operating within the state, with few real consequences for those responsible.
    Service delivery breakdown
    Basic services—electricity, water, sanitation, policing, and healthcare—have deteriorated sharply. Municipal collapse is widespread. Communities that once had reliable services now face outages, failing infrastructure, and unsafe living conditions.
    Social decay and insecurity
    Unemployment reached catastrophic levels, especially among the youth. Crime surged as policing weakened and borders became porous. Ordinary citizens are forced to privatise their own safety, power supply, and healthcare—paying twice for services that the state no longer delivers.
    Loss of accountability
    Despite decades of failure, the ANC repeatedly avoided accountability by invoking liberation history rather than governance performance. Internal factionalism replaced leadership, and ideology replaced practical solutions.

    South Africans reject the continued destruction of the nation’s human capital for the enrichment of a political elite.
    The ANC’s ongoing degradation of South Africa’s human capital serves only a small inner circle, not the country.
    South Africans will not consent to further national decline driven by self-interest and political survival.
    This country will not be sacrificed so a few can retain power and privilege.

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