German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has urged U.S. President Donald Trump to reconsider the decision not to invite South Africa to the Group of 20 summit in Miami, News24 reported on Wednesday, in a public show of support for Pretoria’s place at the table.
South Africa, the first African nation to hold the G20 presidency, is preparing to hand the role over to the United States for 2026. The handover has come amid growing concern in Pretoria that Washington may deprioritise the agenda South Africa championed during its term, centred on inequality and inclusive development.
The invitation dispute lands on top of an already strained bilateral relationship. President Cyril Ramaphosa has criticised South Africans seeking refugee status in the U.S., calling it "unbelievable" that some continue to believe false claims about the country, while Washington has weighed spending on research and advertising around why far fewer Afrikaners than expected have applied under a U.S. refugee programme.
Whether Trump reverses course will be an early test of how the Miami summit handles the African agenda — and of how much weight a public appeal from Berlin carries in Washington.
