South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been disinvited by France to the G7 summit in the French town of Evian in June because of US pressure, the South African presidency told AFP Thursday.
South Africa has faced months of pressure from US President Donald Trump on issues from trade to race relations.
“We’ve learnt that due to sustained pressure, France has had to withdraw its invitation to South Africa to attend the G7 meeting,” Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson to the president, told AFP.
“We are told that the Americans threatened to boycott the G7 if South Africa was invited,” he said.
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Trump has clashed repeatedly with the South African government, hitting the country with high tariffs, berating Ramaphosa in the Oval Office over discredited claims of a “white genocide” and boycotting a G20 summit in Johannesburg in November.
Trump slapped 30-percent tariffs last year on most South African exports — the highest for sub-Saharan Africa. The US Supreme Court has since overruled Trump’s tariffs policy.
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 US ally Israel to the International Court of Justice for allegedly committing genocide in its war in Gaza.
During the G20 in South Africa, 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 invite other countries.
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“This will have no impact on the strength and close nature of our bilateral relationship with France,” the presidency spokesperson said.
“Notwithstanding all of these developments, South Africa remains committed to engage constructively with the US,” he said.
“The diplomatic relationship between USA and South Africa predate the Trump administration and they will outlive the current White House term of office.”
