France has withdrawn an invitation to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to attend this year’s G7 summit, Pretoria said, in a move it attributed to pressure from the US. President Emmanuel Macron had personally invited Ramaphosa to attend the G7 summit in Evian in June as an observer country. The invitation was issued during last year’s G20 gathering in Johannesburg — the first time the forum was hosted on African soil — which was overshadowed by repeated attacks from US President Donald Trump. But France rescinded the invitation this month after “sustained pressure” from Washington, including a threat to boycott the summit, said a South African presidential spokesperson. “The reason we were given was that it was due to sustained pressure from the US, including a threat to boycott the G7 Summit. They couldn’t risk missing a key member of the G7, hence the withdrawal of their invitation,” presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told the FT. South Africa, long a champion of multilateralism, has increasingly sought to position itself as a voice for the global south and a bridge between emerging economies and western powers. But relations between Washington and Pretoria have been strained throughout Trump’s second presidency. The US president has latched on to false claims of a “genocide” against white Afrikaner farmers — whom he has offered refugee status — prompting an increasingly assertive stance from Pretoria that has further angered Trump. Washington has also been riled by South Africa’s International Court of Justice case accusing Israel of genocide, as well as its cosy relations with Iran and Russia. US officials repeatedly lashed out against South Africa’s hosting of the G20, which they eventually boycotted. The Trump administration took the unprecedented step of barring the previous hosts from the upcoming G20 summit, set to take place at the president’s personal golf course this year. The diplomatic stand-off between the two countries left Pretoria without a US ambassador for months. Last month, Trump’s ambassador-designate arrived in South Africa after vowing a tougher line on Pretoria’s foreign policy stance and its ties with US rivals. Within weeks of his arrival, South Africa publicly rebuked Leo Brent Bozell III over remarks criticising the government’s foreign policy and commenting on sensitive domestic issues including land reform and Black economic empowerment policies aiming to promote Black businesspeople. Officials said his comments amounted to interference in internal affairs. “South Africa remains a useful stalking horse and narrative point for this US administration. By telling France and others to disinvite South Africa, the US tests if those countries are serious about its [own] concerns or not,” said Chris Hattingh, executive director of the Johannesburg-based Centre for Risk Analysis think-tank. Magwenya said: “The process to reset the relationship with the US remains ongoing. We remain committed to engaging in constructive dialogue with the US to resolve whatever dispute they have with South Africa.” The French presidency did not respond to a request for comment. The US embassy in South Africa did not immediately respond to a request for comment
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