Manners maketh man: This expression — meaning that treating people well is a measure of humanity — describes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s response to an outburst by US leader Donald Trump.
South Africa is not a country worthy of membership anywhere, due to its race-based laws that discriminated against Afrikaners, Trump said in an overnight statement. He announced that South African delegates were not welcome to attend next year’s Group of 20 Leaders Summit in Miami. This comes after he ensured there were no senior US delegates at this year’s G20 event held in Johannesburg.
This stance was described by Ramaphosa as regrettable, adding Trump’s actions were based on misinformation and distortion.
“South Africa is a sovereign constitutional democratic country and does not appreciate insults from another country about its membership and worth in participating in global platforms. South Africa respects the sovereignty of all countries and will never insult or demean another country or its standing and worthiness in the community of nations,” he said.
Ramaphosa said South Africa is one of the founding members of the G20 and will continue to participate as a full, active and constructive member.
“South Africa has always valued the spirit of consensus, collaboration and partnership that defines the G20 as the premier forum for international economic co-operation.
“We call on members of the G20 to reaffirm its continued operation in the spirit of multilateralism, based on consensus, with all members participating on an equal footing in all of its structures.”
The G20 was founded in 1999, with South Africa the only member country from the continent. In a fact sheet, the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) said its formation was in response to a series of major financial crises, including those in Mexico (1994), Asia (1997) and Russia (1998).
The G7 nations — the US, Canada, France, Britain, Italy, Japan and Germany — realised that globalisation and the international integration of production and exchange meant that a financial crisis in one country could quickly spread. The emergence of economies such as China, India, and Brazil, along with the declining influence of the G7 countries in the global economy, led to the need for a wider platform of influence and coordination to deal with systemic issues.
The G20 is a mechanism for dialogue. Despite its member countries producing the majority of global GDP, dominating world trade and representing the majority of the world’s population, the IEJ said the group has no international mandate and does not make binding decisions.
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