G20 PRESIDENCY HANDOVER: SOUTH AFRICA PASSES THE GAVEL TO THE US IN LOW-KEY CEREMONY

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola.

By Mpho Dube - Editor in Chief of The Azanian

South Africa has officially handed over the G20 presidency to the United States in a low-key ceremony held at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) in Pretoria.

The handover, which was initially expected to be a high-profile event, was scaled down to a quiet exchange between senior officials from Dirco and the US embassy, following days of diplomatic tension over the level of US representation at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg.

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola had insisted that the US representative needed to be of the appropriate seniority to receive the presidency gavel from President Cyril Ramaphosa, citing protocol norms.

"The United States is a member of the G20, and if they want to be represented, they can still send anyone at the right level," Lamola said. "It is the leaders' summit. The right level is the head of state, a special envoy appointed by the president of that country, or it could also be a minister."

The US had initially planned to send its embassy chargé d'affaires, but South Africa deemed this unacceptable, with Ramaphosa's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya describing it as "a breach of protocol".

The handover comes after a tense G20 Summit, which was marked by disagreements over issues such as climate change and global wealth inequality. The US had also boycotted the summit, with President Donald Trump claiming that South Africa was "violently persecuting" its Afrikaner minority.

The G20 presidency will now be held by the US, with Trump planning to host the next summit in Miami, Florida.