When the G20 convenes in Johannesburg on 22–23 November 2025, it marks a historic moment: the first time the summit is held on African soil. Yet this milestone is clouded by a conspicuous absence, that of the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump has declared that no U.S. government officials will attend, citing what he claims are human rights abuses against white South Africans. These assertions have been widely disputed by the South African government.
Despite the boycott, leaders from 42 countries are descending on South Africa, determined to press ahead with a G20 summit centred on “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,” the theme set by the Johannesburg presidency.
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The planned ceremonial handover of the G20 presidency to the U.S. poses a delicate question. In normal times, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa would symbolically pass the baton to his American counterpart. Instead, he will hand it over to an “empty chair.” This symbolic act, while unconventional, carries weight. It signals that South Africa and, by extension, the Global South, are not simply waiting for U.S. participation to legitimise its leadership.
The vacancy is as much an opportunity as a challenge: without Washington’s presence, other powers like Europe, China, and India can step more forcefully into leadership roles.
Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, insists that the handover remains “really ceremonial.” He argues that the Summit must go on even if the United States does not show, because “the institution cannot be bogged down by someone absent.”
South Africa’s takeover of the G20 presidency comes at a time when questions about multilateralism’s future reverberate across the globe. As host, Pretoria has placed front and centre the issues that often define the Global South: climate resilience, debt sustainability, and inequality.
The summit’s agenda is not merely symbolic. Under South Africa’s leadership, the G20 has produced its first-ever report on global inequality, a stark warning of an “inequality emergency.” The report, drafted by independent experts (including Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz), notes that between 2000 and 2024, the top 1% of the world’s population captured 41% of all new wealth, while only 1% went to the bottom 50%. Among its recommendations is a call to establish an independent International Panel for Inequality oversight, inspired by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to guide sustained global cooperation.
For African nations and other developing economies, this represents more than moral leadership: it is a push to reshape the architecture of global economic governance. In a world still grappling with climate change, rapid debt accumulation, and the legacies of colonial inequality, the G20 under South African presidency is staking out a more equitable path.
Legitimacy Under Scrutiny and Reinvented
Critics might argue that a G20 summit missing its most powerful superpower undermines its legitimacy. The United States has traditionally played a central role in setting the direction for global finance, trade, and security. Indeed, some diplomats have expressed scepticism about whether the Johannesburg Declaration will emerge as a truly consensual document.
Yet South African officials are pushing back on this narrative. The sherpa track, behind-the-scenes negotiators, is continuing its work to finalise the Johannesburg Leaders’ Declaration, with or without U.S. sign-off. As Lamola emphasised, refusing to adopt a declaration in the absence of one member would set a dangerous precedent: future hosts could be held hostage to boycotts.
This determination reflects a broader shift. The G20 is no longer simply a club of the rich; it is evolving, slowly but perceptibly, into a more plural forum, where the Global South is not just represented, but leading.
Africa’s Voice Amplified
From a geopolitical lens, the Johannesburg summit is a signal to the world: Africa, long on the margins of high-level global economic governance, is taking centre stage. With nearly 1.45 billion people across the continent, a demographic and economic force in its own right, the hosting of the G20 is a chance to recast Africa not only as a recipient of global policy, but a shaper of it.
The themes of solidarity and equality speak directly to Africa’s priorities: debt relief, climate finance, sustainable development, and reform of international financial institutions. By pushing these issues, South Africa is leveraging its presidency to amplify the Global South’s concerns within a traditionally Western-dominated multilateral system.
Moreover, this framing draws on a broader coalition. Guest countries, regional blocs, and multilateral institutions are heavily involved in the summit, underscoring that this G20 is not just about the “Group of Twenty” in name, but a more inclusive forum for global governance.
Human Rights on the Global Stage: A Double-Edged Challenge
Even as the economic agenda takes shape, civil society and rights organisations are urging South Africa to wield its convening power with moral clarity. Amnesty International, in a recent statement, called on South Africa to “seize this opportunity to show principled global leadership” at the G20. The group has raised alarms about several pressing issues: the Gaza conflict, ongoing violence in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and domestic challenges such as gender-based violence and inadequate housing in informal settlements.
Amnesty’s call is not abstract: its report Flooded and Forgotten found that more than five million South Africans living in informal settlements are especially vulnerable to climate-induced flooding, with poor infrastructure and limited state support. For its part, Amnesty argues that if the G20 is serious about “sustainability,” then disaster risk reduction must be integrated into urban planning for the most marginalised.
Yet Amnesty also cautions that South Africa must look inward. To credibly champion global justice, the country must address its own human-rights challenges, from corruption to impunity to uneven access to basic services. This dual role, critic and standard-bearer, is the tightrope that South Africa must walk if it wants the summit to be more than a diplomatic photo-op.
Shaping a New Global Framework
Beneath the headlines and empty chairs, Johannesburg’s G20 could crystallise a broader shift in multilateral governance. By centring the interests of developing economies and raising institutional reform, South Africa is staking out a vision for the future: one where the G20 is not simply a megaphone for the richest nations, but a platform for more balanced, rights-based global cooperation.
If successful, this summit could mark a turning point, not merely because Africa is hosting, but because Africa is leading. The empty chair may be a symbol, but the substance of the Johannesburg Declaration could leave a more enduring legacy.
