JOHANNESBURG: The White House has escalated its verbal criticism of South Africa over the G-20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg this weekend. White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly responded sharply to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa after Pretoria refused to allow a U.S. embassy delegation to participate in the summit’s closing ceremony.
The U.S. is set to take over the G-20 presidency in 2026. However, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson told reporters here at the summit that their president would not perform the ceremonial handover to a junior diplomat. Washington had previously requested that the embassy’s chargé d’affaires be present at the ceremony.
In what is becoming an increasingly contentious back-and-forth between Pretoria and Washington on various G-20-related issues, Kelly told Fox News Digital,