South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says he has been disinvited by France to the Group of Seven (G7) summit in the French town of Evian in June.. ..because of US pressure.
“We’ve learnt that due to sustained pressure, France has had to withdraw its invitation to South Africa to attend the G7 meeting,” Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson to the president, told AFP.
“We are told that the Americans threatened to boycott the G7 if South Africa was invited,” he said.
During the G20 in South Africa, French President Emmanuel Macron had personally invited Ramaphosa to take part in the G7, Pretoria recalled. The Group of industrialised nations often widens its work to invite other countries.
South Africa has already been excluded from the G20 in January.
According to RFI's Frenchspeaking correspondent in Johannesburg, France says it has decided to invite Kenya instead of South Africa, as they are co-organising a summit together in May.
But it sounds like an excuse, and it's scary to see Macron bend to Trump!
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South Africa has faced months of pressure from US President Donald Trump on issues from trade to race relations.
Trump has clashed repeatedly with the South African government, hitting the country with high tariffs, berating Ramaphosa in the Oval Office over discredited claims of a “white genocide” and boycotting a G20 summit in Johannesburg in November.
Trump ambushed South Africa's Ramaphosa over 'genocide' accusation as soon as they met in Washington...
I reported on this all of next year, see some articles here:
Spotlight on Africa podcast - Ramaphosa in Washington: can South Africa - US ties be saved?
South Africa hits back at US over ‘flawed’ rights report and land grab claims
South Africa confirms temporary withdrawal from G20, as US takes the helm
South Africa closes G20 year framed as ‘presidency for all of Africa
Why the new US ambassador to South Africa could strain relations even further
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“Notwithstanding all of these developments, South Africa remains committed to engage constructively with the US,” the spokesperson to the president also said.
“The diplomatic relationship between USA and South Africa predate the Trump administration and they will outlive the current White House term of office,” he added.
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