South Africa announced on March 26, 2026, that France withdrew its invitation for President Cyril Ramaphosa to attend the Group of Seven summit in June. Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson to the president, stated that sustained pressure from the United States forced France to rescind the invitation.
“We’ve learnt that due to sustained pressure, France has had to withdraw its invitation to South Africa to attend the G7 meeting,” Magwenya told Agence France-Presse. He added, “We are told that the Americans threatened to boycott the G7 if South Africa was invited.”
Diplomatic Tensions Escalate
The disinvitation marked the latest development in months of strained relations between Washington and Pretoria. Tensions mounted after US President Donald Trump accused South Africa of persecuting White Afrikaners and blocked the country from participating in the 2026 G20 summit in Miami.
Trump announced the G20 ban following South Africa’s refusal to symbolically pass the G20 presidency to a senior US Embassy representative at the close of the 2025 summit in Johannesburg. He posted on social media that South Africa demonstrated it was “not a country worthy of membership anywhere.”
Furthermore, the Trump administration imposed 30 percent tariffs on most South African exports, the highest rate for any sub-Saharan African nation. The US Supreme Court later overruled this tariff policy.
Origins of the Invitation
French President Emmanuel Macron personally invited Ramaphosa to the G7 summit during the Johannesburg G20 meeting last year. The Group of Seven industrialized nations regularly extended invitations to non-member countries to broaden discussions.
Brazil, India and South Korea received invitations to the June summit in Evian. South Africa participated in the 2025 G7 summit hosted by Canada under similar arrangements.
South Africa Responds
Magwenya emphasized that the withdrawal would not damage bilateral relations with France. He stated, “This will have no impact on the strength and close nature of our bilateral relationship with France.”
He also affirmed South Africa’s commitment to maintaining diplomatic channels with Washington. “Notwithstanding all of these developments, South Africa remains committed to engage constructively with the US,” he said. He added, “The diplomatic relationship between USA and South Africa predate the Trump administration and they will outlive the current White House term of office.”
