SA accuses US of 'double standards' as diplomatic spat continues

South Africa has accused the United States (US) of double standards as the diplomatic spat between Pretoria and Washington continues.

This follows another confirmation from US officials that South Africa will not be invited to G20 meetings under the US presidency.

This includes being shunned from the first meeting last week, with the US continuing to falsely claim the persecution of white Afrikaners and land confiscation without compensation.

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Despite what South Africa and other G20 member states have repeatedly labelled a successful G20 in 2025, the US said it was an exercise in spite, division, and radical agendas that have nothing to do with economic growth.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said South Africa routinely ignored US objections to consensus communiques and statements on climate change, diversity andinclusion and aid dependency.

Rubio said there is a place for good faith disagreement but not dishonesty or sabotage.

Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola said not only is the US’s stance incorrect, but it also misunderstands the very purpose of a forum like the G20.

“Our role as host was not to force agreement, but to create the conditions for it: a table of equals, governed by the spirit of Ubuntu. That spirit - ‘I am because we are’ - is not a slogan. It is the philosophy that steered our nation away from the precipice of bloodshed and towards reconciliation.

“It is what led delegates from across the world to describe our gathering as a ‘people’s G20’. True leadership doesn’t mean everyone leaves getting everything they want; it means everyone leaves feeling they have been truly heard.”

Lamola’s scathing comments were in response to Rubio’s Substack post, dated 3 December.

“You, then, turn to critique our domestic policies and by extension our national interest. Here, I must speak with clarity, for to misunderstand our journey is to misunderstand the enduring scars of inequality and the long road to healing. Our policies of redress are not a political invention.

“They are the fulfilment of a promise made to all South Africans as we emerged from the darkness of apartheid. That promise is enshrined in our Constitution, a document born from what many called a miracle of negotiation or to borrow from your Supreme Court Justice, the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the best Constitution in the world.”

While Lamola said South Africa remains open to dialogue and committed to maintaining overall relations, he said the country won’t stand for threats to its sovereignty.

“Secretary Rubio, the world is watching. It is growing weary of double standards. It is tired of lectures on democracy from those who seem to have forgotten that democracy, at its best, must listen as much as it speaks.”