SOUTH Africa’s Foreign Minister has issued a scathing and detailed response to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, defending the country’s democratic record and economic achievements while condemning Washington’s decision to exclude Pretoria from G20 meetings—a diplomatic rupture that has laid bare the deepening rift between the two nations.
In an extraordinary open letter, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola directly challenged Rubio’s characterisation of South Africa’s G20 presidency as marked by “spite, division, and radical agendas,” countering with testimonials from world leaders who praised the country’s “incredible hospitality” and vision of inclusive global leadership.
“South Africa is a founding member of the G20. No single member of the G20 has a unilateral right to exclude South Africa from the G20,” Lamola declared, addressing the United States’ unprecedented decision not to invite South Africa to the first Sherpa meeting or the upcoming heads of state summit.
The exclusion represents a dramatic escalation in tensions that have been fueled by President Donald Trump’s repeated allegations—which Lamola implicitly characterised as misinformation—about a non-existent genocide against white Afrikaners in South Africa.
Lamola’s letter systematically dismantled Trump administration claims about South African agriculture being “under siege,” citing robust data that echoed a separate rebuttal delivered by Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa and a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Economic Advisory Council.
“South Africa’s farming sector has more than doubled in value terms since 1994,” Lamola wrote. “South Africa is now the only African country in the top 40 global agricultural exporters, and exports are reaching record levels, just under US$14 billion in 2024. No country with land grabs and invasion would reap such success.”
The minister invoked the legacy of Nelson Mandela—who remained on a US terrorist watch list until 2008—to underscore what he described as historical amnesia in American criticism of South Africa’s transformation policies.
“History, we have learned, often renders a different judgment,” Lamola stated. “It reminds us that one nation’s ‘terrorist’ can be another’s—and ultimately, the world’s—moral beacon.”
The diplomatic exchange follows the United States’ absence from the G20 Heads of State Summit held in South Africa and Washington’s assumption of the G20 presidency. Lamola’s letter cited praise from leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who described South Africa’s presidency as showing “what African leadership looks like—dignified, strategic and people-centred.”
Lamola defended South Africa’s constitutionally mandated transformation policies, noting the country is now governed by a ten-party Government of National Unity and has achieved substantial economic progress since the end of apartheid. South Africa’s GDP has doubled from R3.6 trillion in 1994 to R7.3 trillion in 2024 in constant prices, he noted, while access to electricity has risen from 40% for black South Africans in 1994 to over 95% for all households today.
The minister directly addressed Rubio’s claims about “racism and tolerance for violence” against Afrikaners: “This could not be further from the truth.”
He acknowledged ongoing challenges, particularly the need to increase black farmer participation from the current 10% of commercial output, but emphasised that land reform is proceeding through “a market-based principle” that secures property rights.
“We do not seek your approval for our path. Our path is our own, chosen by our people and guided by our sovereign laws,” Lamola wrote. “But we do seek—and we will always extend—a hand of respectful partnership.”
The minister’s letter represents one of the most forceful diplomatic responses from a US ally in recent memory, signalling South Africa’s determination to defend its post-apartheid transformation even as relations with Washington deteriorate.
“The world is watching. It is growing weary of double standards,” Lamola concluded. “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.“
