United Nations Secretary-General Weighs In on South Africa’s Exclusion From G20 Summit

• The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, discussed the exclusion of South Africa from the G20 Summit in the United States this year
• The Donald Trump administration said that South Africa was not invited after it did not attend the summit, which was hosted in Johannesburg in November 2025
• South Africans were not satisfied with his answer and accused Guterres of being afraid of United States President Donald Trump

Tebogo Mokwena, affiliated with Briefly News, covered local and international politics, political analysis, and interviews in South Africa for Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News for over 10 years.

NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES —The United Nations' Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, spoke on the exclusion of South Africa from the upcoming G20 Summit to be held in Florida, United States, this year.

SABC News journalist Sherwin Bryce-Pease posted a video on his @sherwiebp X account where he asked Guterres a question about South Africa's exclusion on 29 January 2026 during a press briefing in New York. Bryce-Pease noted that the United States accused South Africa of leading an exercise despite division and racial agendas that have nothing to do with economic growth. He then asked what Guteress thought of the exclusion of South Africa from the G20 Summit.

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Guterres responds to SABC News journalist's question

Guterres said that the G20 is not a multilateral organisation in the sense that the G20 has specific responsibilities for economic and financial issues and trade. He also said that it is unlike the UN, World Bank, or other multilateral institutions. He added that the G20 is an aggregation of countries. Guterres added that he was present during the G20 Summit in South Africa, which was hosted on 22 and 23 November 2025.

"I was fully supportive of the agenda and South Africa's presidency. I can see that South Africa played a very positive role in the way it presided over the G20, and it doesn't make sense to me that South Africa is not a permanent member of the G20," he said.

Watch the full clip on X here:

South Africans not pleased with Guterres's answer

Netizens slammed the UN Secretary-General, accusing him of being vague.

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Maxwell said:

"He completely deviated and concluded that it didn't make sense that South Africa is not a full member of the G20. He's either too old for that position, or he's afraid of Trump."

Ebrahim said:

"The UN has proven itself to be useless on so many fronts. With all due respect, we are just wasting our time."

Ausa Lolo said:

"He failed to answer the question. Basically, he just explained that the G20 isn't considered a multilateral organisation."

Jacques said:

"That answer was filled with fear of Trump and funding."

Blazini said:

"Basically, he said nothing."

South Africa calls for UN meeting following Maduro's arrest

In a related article, Briefly News reported that South Africa requested an urgent United Nations meeting to discuss the US's military actions in Venezuela. This was after the US military seized Venezuela's former president, Nicolas Maduro.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation released a statement on 3 January 2026 condemning the United States' actions. The department said the action was a clear violation of the United Nations Charter.

Source: Briefly News