U.S. Pressured France To Drop South Africa From G7 – Pretoria

The United States pressured France to disinvite South African President Cyril Ramaphosa from the upcoming G7 summit in Evian, France, the South African presidency told AFP on Thursday.

Vincent Magwenya, presidential spokesperson, said the decision followed months of strained relations between Washington and Pretoria over a range of issues, including South Africa’s genocide case against Israel and former President Donald Trump’s claims that white Afrikaners were being persecuted.

“We’ve learnt that due to sustained pressure, France has had to withdraw its invitation to South Africa to attend the G7 meeting,” Magwenya said. “We are told that the Americans threatened to boycott the G7 if South Africa was invited. So, South Africa will not be participating in this G7 meeting.”

Relations between the Trump administration and South Africa had already been tense. Trump imposed 30 percent tariffs on most South African exports last year, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, before the US Supreme Court overturned the policy.

He also publicly criticised South Africa’s racial justice policies, aimed at addressing historic inequalities from colonial rule and apartheid, and refused to attend a G20 summit hosted in Johannesburg in November.

The administration also clashed with Pretoria over its lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice, alleging genocide in Gaza. South Africa’s exclusion from this year’s G7 comes after Washington held the rotating presidency of the G20, during which France had extended a personal invitation from President

Emmanuel Macron to Ramaphosa. South Africa had previously been invited to the G7 in 2025, under Canada’s presidency, alongside other countries such as Brazil, India, and South Korea.

Magwenya reassured that the incident would not affect South Africa’s bilateral ties with France. “Notwithstanding all of these developments, South Africa remains committed to engage constructively with the US,” he said. “The diplomatic relationship between the USA and South Africa predates the Trump administration and will outlive the current White House term of office.”

Earlier this month, Pretoria summoned the new US ambassador, Brent Bozell, to address “undiplomatic remarks” about South African racial policies and court rulings.

In his first public statement, Bozell described an apartheid-era chant, “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer,” as “hate speech” and criticised policies meant to empower black South Africans.

South African courts, however, have ruled the chant does not constitute hate speech in the context of the country’s historic struggle against white-minority rule.

The ambassador later clarified that the US respected the independence and decisions of South Africa’s judiciary. Washington expelled South Africa’s previous ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, last year after he criticised Trump’s MAGA movement.

Magwenya added that President Ramaphosa is in the final stages of appointing a new South African ambassador to the US, who will join ongoing engagements with American officials.