- Cyril Ramaphosa says in Cape Town the G20 summit will happen despite the United States and Argentina saying they are not attending.
- Donald Trump rejects the summit agenda as Argentina follows, while Ramaphosa warns their absence weakens talks on debt and climate.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is standing firm as the Group of Twenty summit edges closer, saying the event will go ahead even if the United States and Argentina stay away.
Ramaphosa spoke in Cape Town after Donald Trump announced he will not attend. Trump refuses to take part because he disagrees with South Africa's plan for the summit.
Ramaphosa brushed off the snub. He says the United States is giving up an important role it should be playing as the world's biggest economy. He calls the boycott "their loss".
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Argentina's president Javier Milei is also not coming. His office says the country will send its foreign minister Pablo Quirno instead.
The summit is set for 22 and 23 November. It will be the first time the Group of Twenty meets on African soil. South Africa, as chair, wants the gathering to focus on the needs of the Global South, including climate resilience and rising debt.
But Washington has attacked the theme "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability". It says the message is anti-American.
Ramaphosa says boycotts achieve nothing. He hints that major decisions on the cost of debt will be made at the summit.
Milei has not explained his decision to pull out. But he has made it clear he backs Trump.
The tension between the United States and South Africa does not start or end with the summit. Trump repeats claims about white farmers being killed, and earlier this year he played a video of these claims to Ramaphosa in the Oval Office.
Trump's administration also offers refugee status to Afrikaners, with a group of about 50 flown to the United States. It criticises South Africa for its support of a genocide case against Israel and for black empowerment laws.
